Where have all the big-hitting first basemen gone?

1. There's something odd going on in baseball: The St. Louis Cardinals are aiming for their sixth consecutive postseason trip and their plan at first base is some combination of Matt Adams,NFL Jerseys Cincinnati Bengals Outlet who was injured and ineffective last season; Brandon Moss, who had a poor .711 OPS last season; and maybe Stephen Piscotty, who has played 108 innings at first in his professional career. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won a wild card three years in a row but grew so frustrated with Pedro Alvarez's defense at first base they non-tendered him even though he hit 27 home runs. Their solution for a replacement: John Jaso, who has played five innings at first base in the majors. The Washington Nationals were a disappointment a year ago, but at first base they're once again banking on Ryan Zimmerman, who has played just 156 games the past two seasons and produced a meager .308 OBP in 2015. Over in the American League, the Boston Red Sox are praying that Hanley Ramirez fares better defensively at first base than he did in left field. The Cleveland Indians,Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys Cheap who have a playoff-caliber rotation, moved Carlos Santana to DH because of his poor defense at first base and signed Mike Napoli, coming off a year in which he hit .224 overall and just .191 against right-handers. The Tampa Bay Rays are sleeper contenders, but who is their first baseman? James Loney again? Logan Morrison? Steve Pearce? Richie Shaffer? The Houston Astros are flying high after a postseason berth but don't have a starting first baseman. Maybe it's Jon Singleton, who has played 114 games in the majors and hit .171. Maybe it will be one of their prospects, Tyler White or A.J. Reed. The Toronto Blue Jays led the majors in runs a year ago, but first base is a battle between Chris Colabello (who had a terrific 2015 after being claimed on waivers) and Justin Smoak, he of the 1.9 career WAR over six seasons. You get the picture: A lot of contenders are simply hoping something works at first base rather than possessing a surefire solution. A couple of patch jobs are somewhat by design: The Pirates have Josh Bell on the way, and he may be ready for a midseason call-up, and Houston's Reed tore up Class A and Double-A a year ago, so neither the Pirates nor Astros needed a multiyear fix. But Bell and Reed, while very good prospects, aren't guarantees to produce as rookies. I would say this seems unique, but last year the Pirates ranked 27th in wOBA at first base and the Cardinals ranked 28th, and both still made the playoffs. In 2014, the A's and Pirates ranked 25th and 27th in 2014 and made the postseason. Still, you'd think first base is a position a contending

2. team would expect a little more reliability and production from.