Fantasy managers have to like the volume of options at first base, which is loaded with both top-tier and mid-tier talent. This means you can easily justify paying proverbial top dollar for someone like Nick Kurtz or Vladimir Guerrero or wait on someone at a more reasonable spot in a later round.
All in all, you can aim to maximize the bang of your draft-day buck by going for a breakout candidate at the position. Many players could qualify for this designation, but there are two breakout candidates to get on your radar.
That stockpile of talent also means you don't have to take risks on players who could wind up as busts. There are two names to note in this category as well.
Fantasy Baseball First Base Breakouts
Pasquantino hit 17 home runs after the All-Star break last year. He could do even more damage now that Kauffman Stadium brought in the left and right field fences anywhere from 9-to-10 feet and lowered the respective wall heights by up to 18 inches. Kaufman Stadium -- per Statcast -- had an 85 park factor for home runs over the past three years, which was tied for the third lowest over that span.
Even if this change only moves Kauffman towards the middle of the pack in long balls, it could be what Pasquantino needs to rack up 30+ home runs. If all goes well, 40 home runs and 125 RBIs seem more than possible. That latter may be achievable
Fantasy managers have to like the volume of options at first base, which is loaded with both top-tier and mid-tier talent. This means you can easily justify paying proverbial top dollar for someone like Nick Kurtz or Vladimir Guerrero or wait on someone at a more reasonable spot in a later round.
All in all, you can aim to maximize the bang of your draft-day buck by going for a breakout candidate at the position. Many players could qualify for this designation, but there are two breakout candidates to get on your radar.
That stockpile of talent also means you don't have to take risks on players who could wind up as busts. There are two names to note in this category as well.
Fantasy Baseball First Base Breakouts
Pasquantino hit 17 home runs after the All-Star break last year. He could do even more damage now that Kauffman Stadium brought in the left and right field fences anywhere from 9-to-10 feet and lowered the respective wall heights by up to 18 inches. Kaufman Stadium -- per Statcast -- had an 85 park factor for home runs over the past three years, which was tied for the third lowest over that span.
Even if this change only moves Kauffman towards the middle of the pack in long balls, it could be what Pasquantino needs to rack up 30+ home runs. If all goes well, 40 home runs and 125 RBIs seem more than possible. That latter may be achievable even without 40 homers, as Pasquantino is set to follow Bobby Witt in the batting order.
The breakout potential is there, and what makes Pasquantino's case even more compelling is his wide range of rankings in RotoWire's Top 300 Roundtable Rankings. In some leagues he could be available later than his consensus ADP, and if that is the case in yours he could be a true draft-day steal.
Stewart racked up a .545 slugging percentage, .839 OPS and 121 OPS+ in 18 games with the Reds last season. His minor-league numbers indicate that wasn't a fluke, as Stewart posted a .629 slugging percentage and 1.023 OPS in 38 games with Triple-A Louisville in 2025.
His advanced metrics are every bit as notable. Stewart notched an impressive 17.5 percent barrel percentage at the big-league level. His hard hit, launch angle and exit velocity numbers were also superb both in the minors and the bigs. Stewart has registered 187 walks across 341 professional games, and that has helped lead to a .386 on-base percentage.
Cincinnati is going to find a way to get Stewart's bat in the lineup -- primarily at first base and perhaps at other spots on the infield. He may strike out a bit too much and isn't going to be a volume play in the stolen base department, but 10 steals aren't out of the question. The overall value proposition here results in Stewart being a superb upside play at his current ADP.
Fantasy Baseball First Base Busts
Unsustainability is the byword for the Naylor. That starts with the fact that he was successful on all 19 of his stolen-base attempts after joining Seattle and a major reason why he posted an eye-popping 30 stolen bases in 2025. For perspective, that total is more steals than Naylor posted in nearly 500 big-league appearances prior to 2025. It's not a good idea to buy into a repeat here, and RotoWire has him projected to steal a respectable but not quite as helpful 18 bags in 2026.
Speed is not the only place where unsustainability is a potential issue, as Naylor's numbers at the plate could take a hit over a full season at T-Mobile Park -- a stadium that had an MLB-low 91 overall park factor over the last three seasons. For reference, the next lowest score on the list was 97, which was shared by six teams.
This is not to say that Naylor will be an unproductive player. He can hit 20+ home runs and has a chance at 100+ RBIs. The issue is whether or not he can live up to his current ADP. With the stolen base regression to the mean and a brutally-unfavorable park working against him, the odds suggest that he won't be worth a pick that high. That's more than enough to land Naylor in this category.
Manager A.J. Hinch pushed Torkelson to step up his game last year, and he responded with 31 home runs. That's a solid base to build from, but the reality is that Torkelson may be the ultimate "empty-calorie" player at the first-base spot. He flies out far too often and strikes out a ton, a combination that has led to a career .227 batting average. To be fair, Torkelson did improve that number to .240 in 2025, but that is almost certain the ceiling rather than a reasonable projection.
The low batting average is partly why Torkelson generated only 78 RBIs and 82 runs scored last year despite his success in the long-ball department. Torkelson's speed is extremely limited, and he is part of a Tigers offense that seems allergic to stolen bases, so it may have been fortunate that he even got two stolen bases in 2025.
If all of that isn't enough to work against Torkelson from a fantasy perspective, keep in mind Hinch has shown that if Torkelson's power falters, he won't hesitate to use someone else like Colt Keith at first base. Add it up and there are not enough paths to success to rely upon Torkelson, especially with plenty of options available at his position in fanatsy drafts.
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