Giants: Was Brandon Belt a top 10 first baseman during the 2010s?

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APRIL 12: Brandon Belt #9 of the San Francisco Giants watches the ball after hitting a double in the bottom of the eighteenth inning against the Colorado Rockies to the at Oracle Park on April 12, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

First baseman Brandon Belt has been a staple for the San Francisco Giants since debuting in 2011. Was he a top 10 first baseman during the 2010s?

With their fifth-round pick in the 2009 MLB draft, the San Francisco Giants selected first baseman Brandon Belt from the University of Texas.

He hit .352/.455/.620 with 43 doubles, 10 triples, 23 home runs, 22 steals and a 15.6 percent walk rate over three levels in his pro debut, reaching Triple-A in the process.

The was enough to earn him the No. 1 spot among Giants prospects and the No. 23 spot on the leaguewide top 100 prospect list at Baseball America heading into the 2011 season, and he made his MLB debut on March 31, 2011.

After a strong first full season in 2012, he took his game to another level in 2013, hitting .289/.360/.481 with 39 doubles, 17 home runs and 4.2 WAR.

Unfortunately, he was never quite able to build off that performance, with his 139 OPS+ that season still representing a career-high.

He was an All-Star in 2016 when he logged a personal best 4.6 WAR, and he has always been a solid on-base threat with a .354 on-base percentage and an 11.9 percent walk rate.

However, he has also had a tough time staying healthy over the years, and he has never had prototypical power at the first base position with 18 home runs representing his high-water mark.

So where does that put him on the list of the best first basemen of the past decade?

Ahead we’ve assembled our rankings of the 20 best first basemen of the 2010s, based on a collection of individual statistics, advanced metrics and each player’s importance to his team’s success during the course of the decade.

MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 30: Brandon Belt #9 of the San Francisco Giants singles in the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 30, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Without further ado, here’s my take on the best first basemen of the 2010s.

Note: In order to be eligible for inclusion, a player needed to appear in at least 500 games during the decade, which notably excluded Cody Bellinger (450 games) and Matt Olson (359 games).

1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Joey Votto
3. Paul Goldschmidt
4. Freddie Freeman
5. Anthony Rizzo
6. Adrian Gonzalez
7. Carlos Santana
8. Joe Mauer
9. Jose Abreu
10. Eric Hosmer
11. Albert Pujols
12. Brandon Belt
13. Chris Davis
14. Mark Teixeira
15. Prince Fielder
16. Mike Napoli
17. Justin Morneau
18. Mitch Moreland
19. Justin Smoak
20. James Loney

There’s a fairly clear top five at the first base position for the past decade, with Votto (52.1), Cabrera (43.5), Goldschmidt (43.1), Freeman (37.4) and Rizzo (32.7) checking in as the WAR leaders and pacing the position in most counting stats.

The next tier would seem to be Santana (30.5), Mauer (27.7), Gonzalez (27.0) and Abreu (21.2), as they were steady performers throughout the decade, despite Mauer and Gonzalez calling it quits after the 2018 season, and Abreu not debuting until 2014.

The next tier is where Belt comes into the equation, alongside Pujols, Hosmer and Davis. Each of those players put together an up-and-down decade, ranking among the top players at the position at various points, but never consistently.

All told, Belt finished the decade with a .261/.354/.448 line and a 120 OPS+ that included 129 home runs and 23.2 WAR. That leaves him just short of a spot inside the top 10 at the position for the decade.

Next. Was Buster Posey the best catcher of the 2010s?

Stay tuned as we break down where each San Francisco Giants staple during the decade ranked among his positional peers. Up next, Brandon Crawford and the shortstops.

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First baseman Brandon Belt has been a staple for the San Francisco Giants since debuting in 2011. Was he a top 10 first baseman during the 2010s?

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