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buster olney
multiple authors
Spring training camps are underway, which means it’s time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2026 MLB season preview, ESPN’s Buster Olney surveyed people from across the industry to help rank the top 10 players at every position as part of his annual positional rankings series.
Today, we rank the best of the best relievers.
The aim of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2026 season and not who can be the best in five years or in their careers. We will be releasing one post per day over the next two weeks. Here’s the rest of the schedule: Starting pitchers (monday), relief pitcher (Tuesday), catchers (Wednesday), second baseman (Friday), third baseman (February 23), shortstop (February 24), corner outfielder (February 25), center fielder (February 26), designated hitter (February 27).
Generally, there is a distinct learning curve for even the best college hitters as they adapt to the challenge of facing professional pitchers, sometimes requiring significant adjustments, swing concessions and years of repetition. That’s the A’s first baseman’s rookie season Nick Kurtz It was very shocking.
After being drafted fourth overall in 2024 and starting the ’25 season in the minor leagues, Kurtz destroyed major league pitching for 36 homers and an OPS+ of .173 in his first 117 games. He saw out the remainder of the league in effectively one month – making his debut on 23 April – and only matt olson Accumulated more fWAR than Kurtz among first basemen in 2025.
A’s head of baseball operations David Forst was asked the other day about the changes Kurtz made after being drafted to get him off to such a fast start in the big leagues.
“she has no time [in pro ball] There’s still adjustment to be made,” Forst said. “He’s done just as well in the major leagues as he did in college.”
This is not an exaggeration. In Kurtz’s last season at Wake Forest in 2024, he posted a slash line of .306/.531/.763. His first season in the big leagues: .290/.383/.619.
Kurtz turns 23 next month. Given the damage he did last year, and the promise of even more damage to come, here’s where he should be placed on an accomplished list of first basemen that also includes future Hall of Famers. freddy freeman And bryce harperlike star hitter rafael devers And Josh Naylorand sluggers like pete alonso And Olson?
Evaluators like what they see in Kurtz.
Top 10 first basemen
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.., toronto blue jays
Last October, Guerrero moved beyond mere stardom into the spotlight as one of the best and most dangerous hitters in the game for the way he dominated pitching in the postseason. Vlad Jr. decided to focus less on mechanics and more on pitchers and wow, did this approach work for him in the playoffs: he went 29-for-73 (.397) with eight home runs, 14 walks and seven strikeouts in 18 games. This season’s MVP race between Vladi, aaron judge, cal raleighKurtz, bobby wit jr., jose ramirez And julio rodriguez Could be a monster.
2. Matt Olson, atlanta braves
Olson’s consistent production is pushing him into Hall of Fame territory. He needs just 12 more homers to get to .300 in his career and has at least 29 homers in seven of his 10 seasons. New Atlanta manager Walt Weiss is more willing to rest players than Brian Snitker, and Olson may be his most challenging conversation – he has played every game the past three seasons. There is so much that goes into playing first base that no single statistic fully captures the skill required, but Olson led all first basemen in defensive runs saved so far (17), and he was second in outs above average (nine).
3. Nick Kurtz, Exercise
The biggest adjustment Kurtz may need to make against left-handed pitchers is that he’s going to see a ton of them this year when opposing managers are trying to figure out a way to mitigate his power. Last season, his OPS against right-handed pitchers was 468 points higher than against lefties – 1.153 to .685. But given his immediate impact and steady improvement last season, he will only get better against lefties over time. His impressive history also suggests he’ll turn around last year’s walk/strikeout numbers of 63/151 – during his college years and first season of pro bowl, he had 201 walks and 120 strikeouts. Kurtz has a special set of skills.
4. Pete Alonso, baltimore orioles
All the talk about Alonso’s defense and baserunning – exaggerated criticism – has overshadowed his remarkable consistency with the Mets. One evaluator said, “You just pencil him in for 35 homers and 110 RBI, and you know he’ll give you 155 to 160 games.” Nothing! He That’s an exaggeration — Alonso has hit at least 34 home runs in every year of his career except the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and he’s hit 463 over the last four years, or about 116 runs per season. and he has missed Total Out of 24 games in his first seven seasons. Time will tell whether the Mets’ decision not to pay him was the right one, but undoubtedly, there will be moments in 2026 when they will miss him.
5. Freddy Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
If you polled opposing managers about who they would least like to see in the batter’s box during a game, Freeman would probably be one of the first hitters named, even at age 36. He excelled last season with a .295/.367/.502 slash line, and at this point, there’s every reason to believe he’ll have a chance to become the next – and maybe even the last? – Hitter who reaches 3,000 hits. He has yet to hit .569 and given his understanding of opposing pitchers and his ability to hit to all fields, Freeman should continue to age well. He has two years left on his Dodgers contract, as well shohei ohtani Indefinitely established as LA’s designated hitter, there may be questions next season about where Freeman will finish his career.
6. Bryce Harper, philadelphia phillies
Philadelphia’s head of baseball operations David Dombrowski sparked a lot of conversation about what kind of player Harper is. the way he answered a question About Harper’s production at the end of last season. Where does Harper really stand? Well, his OPS+ last year was 129, meaning he was well above average, and in this era of effective pitching, his on-base percentage of .357 ranked 26th among the 154 hitters who qualified for the batting title. Harper batted in 72 runs and collected 27 homers in 132 games. He’ll be playing this season at age 33, Dombrowski’s assessment will provide the foundation for whatever narrative develops.
7. Josh Naylor, seattle mariners
Following his trade to Seattle, Neller posted an .831 OPS and went 19-for-19 on steals over the last 54 games of the regular season – and carried that over into the postseason, when he hit .417/.481/.792 in the AL Championship Series. At the start of free agency, the Mariners retained him on a five-year, $92.5 million deal.
8.Raphael Devers, san francisco giants
Members of San Francisco’s front office say they believe Devers will become a solid first baseman as he works with new infield instructor Ron Washington, and there has never been any doubt about whether he can hit. Even during his up-and-down 2025 season, Devers finished with an OPS of 140, which was in line with his career numbers, and he hit 35 homers. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to his first full season at Oracle Park, where he had 59 strikeouts in 48 games and batted .234 – stats that suggest he may be trying to add power to Pitchers Park.
9. With Wrigley Field’s confines being more favorable to pitchers and right-handed hitters on most days, Bush hit 21 of his 34 homers on the road. But with a .356 OBP and .500 slugging percentage, he was still really good at home. The Cubs’ best hitters are mostly right-handed, the team will need the left-handed Bush to bolster and balance the lineup, especially if Pete Crowe-Armstrong It’s another season of stripes.
10. vinny pasquantino, kansas city royals
After several injuries, Pasquantino remained on the field in 2025 and finished with 66 extra-base hits, 113 RBI and a career-high 120 OPS+. He played 126 of his 160 games at first base last season, but he may have gotten more time at DH in ’26, as the Royals rely on him more. carter jensen behind home plate and salvador perez Firstly, he plays more games.
honorable mentions
Jonathan Aranda, tampa bay rays: : Aranda would have been in the top 10 had it not been for the injury that cost him August and almost the entire September last year. He finished about 80 plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title, but the only hitter with at least 400 plate appearances who had an average higher than Aranda’s .316 was Judge. Aranda had a wRC+ of 153, and only Kurtz was better among first basemen.
ben rice, New York Yankees: : One of the reasons Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talked about the improvement in his team’s roster over the previous year is Rice’s development, leading the team to believe he is going to be an effective hitter in the coming season. In his first full season, Rice produced a slugging percentage of .499 with an OBP of .337. His second-half slash line was .281/.352/.542, and lest you assume he’s just another left-handed hitter taking advantage of the dimensions of Yankee Stadium, his home/road splits were quite similar (.250/.336/.518 at home, .259/.338/.481 on the road).
wilson contreras, boston red sox: : A hard hitter who has adapted well to his position has moved to first base. Last year his strikeouts reached a career-high 142, and his walk rate of 7.8 in ’25 was a career low.
George Polanco, New York Mets: : Finally, manager Carlos Mendoza could deploy bret batty — Or mark vientos – First off, and Polanco could get a lot of runs at DH. No matter where he plays, he should help the Mets’ offense, coming off a season in which he had an .821 OPS.
spencer torkelson, detroit tigers: : Torkelson made several changes in the offseason, which paid off in the first half of last season, when he hit 21 of his 31 homers and had an OPS of .826.
Andrew Vaughan, milwaukee brewers: : Vaughn had a .308/.375/.493 slash line in 64 games for Milwaukee, and his walk-strikeout ratio changed dramatically – from seven walks and 43 strikeouts in his last 48 games with Chicago to 24 walks and 37 strikeouts with the Brewers.
Christian Walker, Houston Astros: : His offensive struggles were real (99 wRC+), but he continued to play well defensively and he hit 27 homers.
