Ranking the projected starting National League first basemen

Goldschmidt joins St. Louis after a star-studded eight years with the Diamondbacks. The 31-year-old was twice the runner-up for National League MVP and finished sixth in voting last year when he hit .290 with 33 homers and 35 doubles. He is a former three-time Gold Glove winner, last taking home honors in 2017.

Freeman tied for the National League lead with 44 doubles in 2018. Last year, he also batted .309 (third straight year over .300) and hit 23 home runs (eighth straight year with at least 18 homers). The 29-year-old was elite manning first base and taking home his first Gold Glove. He finished fourth in National League MVP voting.

Rizzo's streak of four straight seasons with at least 30 homers ended as he hit 25 in 2018, but he did drive in at least 100 runs for the fourth straight year. Now 29 years old, he also walked 70 times for the sixth straight season. He shared Gold Glove honors with Freddie Freeman at first base, the second time he has won one.

Votto, the 2010 National League MVP, had the second-lowest average of his 12-year career. The fact it was .288 shows just how incredible a hitter he has been. For the third straight year, and seventh time in the last nine, he led the National League in on-base percentage. After hitting 94 homers from 2015-17, the 35-year-old managed only 12 last year.

The 28-year-old Muncy came out of nowhere last year for the Dodgers to hit 35 homers and post a .973 OPS; He had just five home runs in his career with the Athletics in 215 at-bats prior to 2018. He can play all over the field for Los Angeles as he also made starts at third and second base.

Like Muncy, the 28-year-old Aguilar seemingly came out of nowhere in 2018 to be one of the top power hitters. He hit 35 long balls, drove in 108 runs, and hit a respectable .274. For a large man (listed at 6'3, 250 lbs.), he isn't a liability playing first base as he made just four errors there last season.

Hoskins will move back to his more natural position of first base after a somewhat disastrous year playing left field. After hitting 18 homers in 50 games during his rookie year of 2017, he hit another 34 in 2018. He also hit 38 doubles and walked 87 times. He will turn 26 on March 17.

After spending many of his years as a below-average defensive second baseman, Murphy (turns 34 on April 1) is likely to at least start the year as the team's primary first baseman. He hit 12 home runs and batted .299 in 90 games with the Nationals and Cubs last year. In 2016-17, he combined to hit .34 with 90 doubles and 48 home runs.

Belt hit 14 homers last year, the sixth straight season he has hit between 12-18. He also ended the year with a .253 average and .756 OPS, lower than his career numbers of .266 and .811. Despite never winning a Gold Glove, defensive metrics consider the 30-year-old as one of the best defenders at first base.

The 29-year-old Hosmer didn't have quite the season in 2018 that San Diego hoped for in the first year of his eight year, $144 million deal. He hit .253 with 18 home runs and a .720 OPS which all were a steep decline from .318, 25, and .882 respectively in 2017 with the Royals. The four-time Gold Glove winner is still above-average in the field.

After a stellar comeback season in 2017, the 34-year-old Zimmerman fell back to earth a bit last year as injuries limited him to 85 games. He ended the year with a .264 average and 13 home runs. The Nationals hope his 2019 can fall between that and the .303 average and 36 homers he had in 2017.

Frazier spent all of last season at third base, but with the signing of Jed Lowrie, he is now projected to start the season at first. Since 2016, he owns just a .218 average and has seen his home run total drop from 40 to 27 to 18 in those three seasons. Turning 33 on February 12, there may be a short leash on him as the Mets have plenty of infield depth.

Still just 26 years old, Bell hasn't quite lived up to the lofty standards put on him as a prospect. In 148 games for Pittsburgh last year, he batted .261 with 12 home runs and 31 doubles. That homer total was less than half of the 26 he connected on in 2017. He rated very poorly by defensive metrics in 2018.

With Eduardo Escobar in town, the 28-year-old Lamb will likely move from third to first base, a position he has only started at twice in his career. He was held to just six homers in 56 games last year after hitting 59 and driving in 196 runs from 2016-17. He has hit no better than .200 in any of his five big league seasons against left-handed pitching.

The 33-year-old Walker was the first major signing made by the Marlins in the offseason according to MLB.com. His 11 homers with the Yankees last year were his lowest in some time as he hit between 12-23 every season between 2010-17. He will be capable of filling in at second and third base as well for Miami.