State of the Position: First Base
The Atlanta Braves better hope Matt Olson keeps the iron man streak going, because it's a wasteland behind him
The Atlanta Braves have a major league roster that’s the envy of baseball - full of cost-controlled long-term contracts, it’s relatively easy to project out almost every single starter for multiple seasons and know exactly what they’re going to make in the process while giving you above-average production.
First base is one of those positions, with incumbent Matt Olson signed through 2029 (his age-35 season) at $22M per and with the team holding a $20M club option for 2030, his age-36 season.
The first baseman has been one of the most reliable players in baseball, not missing a single game since Seth Brown started over him for the then-Oakland Athletics on May 1st, 2021. That’s a streak of 619 consecutive games, the longest streak1 in MLB by a significant margin.
And that longevity is good because this is a position that Atlanta hasn’t really invested in since Freddie Freeman debuted for the Braves in 2010. Let’s dive into it.
(Previous entries in the series: Shortstop)
MLB: No question about it, Matt Olson’s the guy
Quick, who is the last player to spend any time at first base for the Braves since Matt Olson joined the club?
Would you believe it’s Nicky Lopez?
The midseason acquisition took over for Olson on October 1st, 2023 in the final game of the regular season. Manager Brian Snitker gave the regulars a chance to come out and get ovations from the fans - Ronald Acuña Jr. left after 1st inning, while Olson was lifted after the 2nd.2
The only other player to have covered 1st during Olson’s tenure with Atlanta is Austin Riley, who got seven innings there on September 24th, 2022. While Marcell Ozuna’s been doing defensive drills at first base prior to games and has even manned the spot in spring training, he has yet to appear at first in a major league game.
Triple-A: Not a prospect to be found
Eight different players logged time at first base this season for the Stripers.
As of today, only four of them are even still in the organization and none of them are prospects.
40-year-old Yuli Gurriel (58G, 509.2 innings) was traded to the Kansas City Royals just prior to the postseason eligibility deadline, while Phillip Evans (28G, 241 innings) was released in June. Luis Liberato (13G, 109 innings) was released in September, while Ryan Casteel (4G, 31 innings) voluntarily retired in July. Brian Anderson (24G, 198 innings) is still on the roster, as is Luke Williams (19G, 158 innings), Chadwick Tromp (6G, 51 innings), and Sebastián Rivero (1G, 8 innings).
If the Braves suffer an injury that’ll keep Olson out for an extended period, they’re not finding a replacement on the Gwinnett roster - none of those remaining four players are primarily first basemen, although Anderson’s probably the closest and might be the immediate replacement while the Braves work on making a trade.
Double-A: Matt Olson-esque playtime dominance
Only three players spent time at first for the Mississippi Braves, but one man dominated the innings: Bryson Horne, who made 103 of his 107 appearances at first and took 866.2 of the 1157 first base innings for Mississippi.
An undrafted free agent out of nearby Columbus State University, Horne batted .238 with a .646 OPS this season, hitting eight homers and driving in 48. He does not appear on any popular prospect lists for the organization.
Also appearing at first base was 27-year-old Cade Bunnell (28G, 212.2 innings) and about-to-turn-27 Javier Valdez (9G, 77.2 innings), who was released over the summer.
High-A: If you squint, there could be prospects here
Rome saw four different players get time at first, a few of which could charitably be described as prospects.
E.J. Exposito (2022R16th, Long Island University) got a cup of coffee at the cold corner, spending just 49.1 innings at first as he rotated through all four infield positions - batting .238 with a .728 OPS, he spent the majority of his time (660 innings) at shortstop.
Meanwhile, Justin Janas (2022R12, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign3) got 527 games at the position, hitting .244 with a .702 OPS. He hit only 4 homers in his 82 games but drove in 30.
The remaining innings went to Drew Compton (48G, 419.2 innings) and Nick Ward (15G, 114 innings).
None of the four appears on popular prospect lists for the organization.
Single-A: A revolving door at first base
Six different players got playtime at first base for the Augusta GreenJackets in 2023, but only two players made more than ten appearances: Drew Compton (35G, 305.2 innings) and 2023 13th-rounder Will Verdung (78G, 657 innings).
Compton was the more accomplished performer of the two4, hitting .295 with a .835 OPS during his time with Augusta and getting the midseason promotion to Rome over Verdung, who batted just .216 in his first full season after being drafted out of Itawaba Community College in 2023’s 13th-round.
Other options in the organization
There are a few other players in the organization that could eventually make their way into this list.
David McCabe, a college first baseman that Atlanta moved over to third after taking him in 2022’s 4th-round, had Tommy John surgery this spring. Already stretched at third base, a move back to first is likely in his future and he’d immediately be the top prospect at the position. Despite the injury wiping out most of his 2024, MLB Pipeline has McCabe as their #13 prospect in the system. He’s currently catching up on missed time in the Arizona Fall League.
Outfielder Jesse Franklin is another TJ survivor, returning last May but missing all of 2024 with a shoulder issue. Possessing immense power from a slightly-wonky swing, he can play all three outfield positions thanks to his fringe-to-average speed but the poor arm strength may push him to first base. Provided he can get back to the field - a major if, at this point - there’s a possibility the 25-year-old can succeed on the dirt if he can cut down on his 29.1% strikeout rate. Baseball America has him ranked as the #19 prospect in the system.
Mason Guerra, who divided his time between first and third base for Oregon State last season, was taken in the 14th round and is listed on MLB’s draft tracker as a first baseman. Possessing immense raw power but also batting .207 in Pac-12 play last season, he’s a promising but flawed prospect who will get a shot next year to establish a pipeline at the position. He’s not listed on popular prospect lists for the organization.
With Olson’s long-term deal, there’s not an immediate need for a high-level first base prospect behind him. But for both injury and designated hitter-related reasons, having a pipeline of sluggers at the cold corner would go a long way to ensuring the danger of the lineup in coming seasons.
Olson had some starts at DH for Oakland during that last season, so if we’re looking at solely first base starts, his regular season streak is “only” 481 games, It’s still the longest at first base and the seventh-longest streak at any one position in the last 80 years.
Olson played all but thirteen innings of the team’s season last year - besides the October 1st game, he was lifted in the third on September 29th (replaced by Luke Williams) and pinch-ran for in the 10th on both September 2nd versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and on June 8th against the New York Mets. Atlanta went on to win both games, although they were on the road against LA and so Nicky Lopez had to cover first for the bottom of the 10th inning.
Fun fact: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a Hall of Famer: shortstop Lou Boudreau, who hit .295 in a fifteen-year career (1938-1952) spent mostly with Cleveland
As a four-year college player at Georgia Tech, already 23 and in his second year of pro ball, it can be argued that Compton should have been able to do that and more in Augusta. Verdung, by comparison, turned 21 this summer and is in his first year of professional ball after just two years in junior college.