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Orioles: 2016 AL East Positional First Base Rankings

By Nate Wardle

Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez (13) connects for a RBI single in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez (13) connects for a RBI single in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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Justin Smoak
Aug 29, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak (14) hits an RBI single in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Toronto Blue Jays – Justin Smoak, Edwin Encarnacion (Prediction: 3rd, Chris Colabello, Justin Smoak, Matt Dominguez, Casey Kotchman)

If only Toronto had Edwin Encarnacion as the main starter at first base, but they didn’t.

I ranked the Jays third before the season started based on Colabello’s strong 2015, and Smoak as a decent alternative, hedging my bets that Colabello could not sustain his success. Well, he couldn’t, and Smoak was not decent, but the Jays still came in as predicted.

Edwin Encarnacion would have been ranked first, but he started more games at DH than first base, which means that Smoak is the primary qualifier here.

Smoak hit .217/.314/.391 with 14 HRs, 10 2Bs, 34 RBIs and 33 runs. It was another subpar season for Smoak, but what we should expect from him at this point.

The slash numbers were all within a few points of his career averages, so it wasn’t exactly surprising. Smoak’s dWAR was -0.9, and his oWAR was 0.1, meaning that Smoak is barely a replacement player, which isn’t surprising when he has a career .223 average. Everyone keeps hoping the power will develop, like it did for Mark Trumbo, but even that didn’t really happen.

Now, Encarnacion was a different story from Smoak, as he had another excellent year. Edwin hit .263/357/.529 with 42 HR, 34 RBIs, 127 RBIs (led AL) and 99 runs. Encarnacion was again an All-Star for the Blue Jays in his contract year, and will be an interesting free agent this offseason.

His dWAR was -1.2, yet his range metrics put him equal to the major league average.

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