With big stars like Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols finding new homes in 2012, the first base position is one that has gotten interesting. While Pujols went without a home run during the month of April, names like Freddie Freeman, Carlos Pena and Billy Butler have had a great start to 2012. While those three have been great, there are three other players eligible at first base that have stood out as having the best April of any other players at the position.
1. Edwin Encarnacian, Toronto Blue Jays
On draft day, not many people used a pick to select Encarnacian, but most wish they had. He leads all of baseball in home runs for first basemen with eight and is second in RBIs to Nick Swisher with 21. At the end of April, he was hitting .322 and while he is the least likely of any players to appear on this list again, he had the best month of any player eligible for the position.
2. Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox
Konerko has been one of the most unheralded players in the sport for most of the past 10 years. The longtime White Sox great has now hit more than 400 home runs lifetime and is off to one of the best starts of his career. He finished the month of April by hitting .383 with five home runs, 15 RBIs, 13 runs scored and an OPS of 1.123.
3. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
In most leagues, Cabrera was the first player off the board. While he has had an amazing season thus far, he only makes the list as the third best fantasy option of the month. What Encarnacian and Konerko managed to do during the month was incredible, but Cabrera is the most likely option to appear in this list in later months. In April, Cabrera hit .298 with seven home runs, 20 RBIs and 15 runs scored. While his average is nearly 50 points less than the production fans saw from him in 2011, his power figures are on track to surpass last season's totals.
For easier access to Fantasy Projections for the 2012 season, go here.
More from this contributor:
Top Two-Start Pitchers from April 23-29
Which Fantasy Stars Need Bounce Back 2012 Season?
Hobson Lopes has been playing fantasy baseball for more than 10 years and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.
