Micro Conference: First Base

First base is typically where you'll find some of the biggest boppers in the league. And in the Micro Conference this year, that's fairly true.

In some cases, though, you'll find the biggest bats at DH this year but in this post, we'll have a look at contenders who could start at 1B for the Micro Conference in this year's All-Star Game. The 10 teams in the Micro Conference are Allentown, Blue Ridge, El Paso, Erie, Hillsborough, Livingston, Marietta, Philly, Poovey Farms, and Rockland.

FIRST BASE

Livingston has been leading the Ryan Division and among the top teams in the league all season -- thanks in part to their 1B team of Brandon Belt and Vlad Guerrero, Jr. Belt is likely to appear on the ballot at 1B, given his 57 starts while Vlad has primarily been a DH, with 22 of his 79 starts at 1B, so we'll have a closer look at Vlad's numbers when he look at the DH position. Belt leads Micro 1B in OPS (.917), HR (19) and RC/27 (6.9).

Marietta's Yuli Gurriel may have just turned 38 but he's not slowing down just yet. He's started all 80 games at 1B for the Mighty Men, which has helped the Cuban native lead Micro first basemen in most counting categories: hits (92), doubles (21), and total bases (143) as well as batting average (.292).

C.J. Cron of Hillsborough often flies under the radar. For instance, you might not remember that he won batting title five years ago. Among regular 1B in the Micro, Cron is tops with 51 RBI, ahead of Gurriel (47), and 32 extra base hits (along with El Paso's Paul Goldschmidt). While he may not match Belt for RC/27 (6.0), Cron does lead in total RC (50.7), ahead of Gurriel (47.7) and Goldschmidt (46.9). Goldschmidt, in addition to matching Cron for most EBH, also leads Micro 1B in runs scored (43) and trails only Gurriel in total bases (138). On the defensive side, Goldschmidt leads the league in putouts, assists and total chances.

Jared Walsh may not be the main reason that Philly is one of two teams that averages 5 runs a game (that's probably Bryce Harper), but the second-year lefty is among the leaders in OBP (.372) and OPS (.829), with more an emphasis on runs (41) than you traditional 1B. Walsh's platoon situation makes his RC/27 (5.9) right their with Cron but leaves his RC (39.3) falling short of others.

Cron's Hillsborough platoon partner, Pete Alonso, spends the vast majority of his 82 starts at DH, and while he has a respectable 15 HR and 40 RBI at the break, matched with Erie's Josh Bell, he's done so with a less-than-stellar line of .195/.280/.375; Bell has a bit more respectable .247/.321/.445.