MLB Top 5: Washington Nationals First and Thrid Basemen

This is the second article in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for the Washington Nationals. In this installment are first and third basemen and designated hitters.

The Expos/Nationals franchise, like many others, has gotten plenty of production from its corner infield spots. However, the starters at both spots were known for their fielding during their time in Montreal. The lists also include two first basemen who were great contact hitters, a third baseman who has dealt with plenty of injuries since leaving Washington for Los Angeles and a star who was so beloved by the fans that he was nicknamed “Mr. National”.

The best First and Third Basemen in Washington Nationals History

First Basemen

Honorable Mentions – Tony Perez was traded to the Expos in late 1976 after earning seven All-Star selections (including the MVP Award in the 1967 contest) and winning two titles with the “Big Red Machine.” Although he never reached the same level of play later in his career, he had three solid years in Montreal, posting double-digit home run totals and driving in at least 70 runs each season. “Big Dog” had a resurgence in Boston in 1980, posting a .275-25-105 stat line and winning the Lou Gehrig Award before his numbers declined. After a stop in Philadelphia, Perez returned to Cincinnati, finishing his 23-year career with 379 home runs and 1,652 RBIs. He was a coach with the Reds for five years and had brief stints managing in Cincinnati and Florida. Perez was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his ninth year on the ballot in 2000.

Josh Bell got his start in Pittsburgh, where he was drafted in the second round in 2011, appeared in the MLB All-Star Futures Game twice and made his major league debut in 2016. He had his best season in 2019, when he made his lone All-Star team and set a career high with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs. Bell was traded to the Nationals following the 2020 campaign and hit 27 home runs in his first season in the Nation’s Capital. He earned his only silver slugger to date in 2022, but he was sent to San Diego at the trade deadline as part of the trade involving Juan Soto. Although he is an above average run producer, Bell bounced around to four teams in three seasons before signing back with Washington in 2025.

5B Ryan Zimmerman – After nearly a decade at the “hot corner” and one season in left field, he moved over to first base for the tail end of his career. Zimmerman’s first two seasons were injury plagued, but he showed flashes of his earlier form in 2017, earning his second All-Star selection while batting .303 with 108 RBIs and a personal-best 36 home runs. In the Division Series, he hit the game-winning homer in Game 2, but the Nationals fell to the Cubs. Oblique and foot injuries cost him most of the next two seasons, but he was solid during the 2019 playoffs, totaling five runs 15 hits two home runs and seven RBIs in 16 games while helping Washington win the first title in franchise history. Zimmerman sat out the COVID-shortened season and hit 14 home runs as the team’s designated hitter in 2021. He retired after the season, played his entire 16-year career with the Nationals and holds many of the club’s offensive records.

5A Adam LaRoche – He was drafted twice by the Marlins and spurned them both times before the Braves selected him in 2000. Three years later, LaRoche played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game, and he made his major league debut the following season. He had solid seasons in Atlanta and Pittsburgh, then bounced around a bit before signing with the Nationals in 2011, which ended with shoulder surgery. LaRoche had arguably his best campaign the following year, when he won a gold glove and silver slugger, batted .271 with 76 runs and set career highs with 144 hits, 33 home runs and 100 RBIs. Following the season, he was earned a Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award and hit two home runs in a loss to the Cardinals in the Division Series. “The Rock” had two more solid seasons with the Nationals before signing with the White Sox in 2015. He finished his four-year tenure in Washington (2011-14) with 82 home runs and 269 RBIs in 489 games. LaRoche saw his average dip to .207 in Chicago, and he retired abruptly during spring training the following year after team officials asked him not to have his son around the clubhouse.

4. Mike Jorgensen – While others on this list may have an edge on the offensive end, Jorgensen was a talented defender throughout his six seasons in Montreal (1972-77). He came from the Mets to the Expos in a trade for outfielder Rusty Staub, who would become an icon for both franchises. Jorgensen was decent at the pate but stellar in the field, winning both a gold glove and a fielding title in 1973 while setting a career high with 16 stolen bases. He batted a personal-best .310 the following year and ruined the Cardinals’ postseason chances with a game-winning home run in the second-to-last game of the season. Jorgensen had his most productive campaign in 1975, setting career highs with 116 runs, 18 home runs and 67 RBIs.

Following a trade to Oakland, he went to Texas, where he was part of one of the scariest moments in baseball history. In a late May 1979 game against the Red Sox, Jorgensen was hit in the head with a pitch. He missed more than a month, thanks to persistent headaches, and an examination revealed a blood clot in the brain that caused a seizure and nearly resulted in his death. Jorgensen was traded back to the Mets the following year and spent time with the Braves before ending his career with the Cardinals, earning five postseason at-bats for a St. Louis club that reached the World Series. He spent a decade as director of player development with the Cardinals and had a brief stint as manager of the club in 1995.

3. Al Oliver – The Southern Ohio native signed with the Pirates at age 17 and earned three All-Star selections during his decade in the Steel City. Oliver was a consistent and talented hitter who split his time in Pittsburgh between center field and first base. He was a part of the “Pittsburgh Lumber Company” club that won the World Series in 1971 and was part of the first all-black lineup in major league history on September 1 that year. Oliver was traded to the Rangers and continued his torrid hitting, posting an average of .300 or better in all four of his seasons in Texas and setting career highs with 96 runs, 209 hits, and 117 RBIs in 1980.

Two years later, “Scoop” was traded to Montreal and had his best offensive season. He won his lone batting title with a career-high .331 average, topped the National League with 204 hits and 43 doubles (which tied a personal best), which led to his third straight All-Star selection and silver slugger award, as well as a third-place finish in the MVP voting. Following another All-Star season in which he batted .300 and led the league with 38 doubles, Oliver was traded to the Giants and bounced around to four teams in his final two seasons. He was one of the players who was affected by a collusion scandal on the part of the owners during the mid-1980s that he believes cost him several years. Overall, Oliver batted .303 with 219 home runs, 1,326 RBIs, 1,189 runs and 2.743 hits over 18 seasons. Although those numbers, as well as seven All-Star selections, are Hall of Fame worthy, he lasted just one season on the writer’s ballot and has only appeared three times for the Veterans Committee through the years.

2. Ron Fairly – Like Oliver, Fairly spent the majority of his career on other teams but had some of his best years in Montreal. He spent his first 12 seasons with the Dodgers, beginning with their first season in Los Angeles in 1958. Fairly split time between right field and first base, winning three championships while becoming known as a good contact hitter who could drive in runs. He was traded to the expansion Expos in 1969 and continued to make great contact. Fairly earned his first All-Star selection after batting .298 with 17 home runs in 1973, bat a drop in average to .245 the following year led to a trade to St. Louis. He finished his Expos tenure (1969-74) with a .276 average and 331 RBIs in 718 games, and his .381 on-base percentage ranks ninth in franchise history.

Fairly’s numbers dropped the next two seasons, but he had a resurgence with baseball’s other Canadian club. In 1977, he earned his second All-Star selection thanks to a .279-19-64 stat line (the home runs were a career high) with the expansion Blue Jays. Fairly spent his final season with the Angels, the joined the team as a broadcaster. He was in the booth for nearly 30 years with the Angels, Giants and Mariners and made sporadic appearances on radio and television until 2012. Fairly passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2019 at age 81.

1. Andres Galarraga – No first baseman combined in the history of the franchise combined offense and defense quite like Galarraga. The Venezuela ntive signed to play professionally in his home country at age 16 and signed with the Expos in 1979. Galarraga had a promising start to his career in Montreal until he suffered a knee injury that required surgery in 1986. He returned and drove in a t least 80 runs in each of the next four seasons. His best offensive output with the Expos came in 1988, when he earned his first All-Star selection and silver slugger after batting .302 with 99 runs, 29 home runs and 92 RBIs, and he topped the National League with 184 hits, 42 doubles and 329 total bases. Although he earned two gold gloves with Montreal, he also led the league in strikeouts three times. An injury plagued 1991 season led to Galarraga being dealt to the Cardinals.

The “Big Cat” got his big break when he signed with the expansion Rockies in 1993. Using his environment to his advantage, he won the batting title with a .370 average in his first season, smacked 30 or more home runs four times and drove in at least 85 runs on five occasions in the rarified air of Colorado. Galarraga earned two more All-Star selections, but he did not get the honor for his best season. In 1996, he batted .304 and led the league with 47 home runs and 150 RBIs, numbers which somehow only got him a sixth-place finish in the MVP voting. Galarraga went to the Braves, where he continued his strong play despite missing the 1999 season with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He spent his final four seasons with four clubs, including a return to Montreal in 2002. Galarraga finished his time with the Expos ranked fifth in strikeouts (871) and tied for tenth in games (951), home runs (115) and RBIs (473) to go with 424 runs, 906 hits, 180 doubles and 1,459 total bases.

Third Basemen

Honorable Mentions – Jose “Coco” Laboy was a native of Puerto Rico who spent a decade toiling in the minor leagues for the Giants and Cardinals. He finally got his shot after being taken by the Expos in the expansion draft and made his debut at 29 years old for the first-year club. Laboy had a stellar first year in which he totaled 145 hits, 18 home runs and 83 RBIs to finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting. However, his average tumbled to .199 the following year and knee issues ruined what could have been a promising career. Laboy finished with 291 hits and 166 RBIs in 420 games with the Expos and played in his homeland for two years before retiring and spending 27 years working for the Puerto Rican government.

Shane Andrews was taken by the Expos in the first round of the 1990 draft and made his major league debut five years later. He was a decent defender and even had some flashes as a run producer, but his downfall was a low average. Andrews had his best season in 1998 when he finished second among third basemen in assists and set career highs with 117 hits, 25 home runs and 69 RBIs, despite a .238 average (which was also his best in a Montreal uniform). After five seasons with the Expos (1995-99), he was traded to the Cubs and ended his career with a seven-game stint with the Red Sox in 2002. Andrews has the distinction of hitting the first home run in a major league game played in the 21st century.

5. Bob Bailey – A standout athlete in high school in Southern California, Bailey was signed by the Pirates and made his debut in 1962. He was solid in Pittsburgh but never lived up to his initial hype and was traded to the Dodgers, where his numbers fell dramatically. Bailey’s career turned around after he was sold to the expansion Expos and took over as their starting third baseman. His average jumped back to where it was with the Pirates, and he hit at least 20 home runs and drive in more than 80 runs three times each during a seven-year run in Montreal (1969-75). Spurred on by a game-winning grand slam against the Mets in a May 1970 game, Bailey went on to hit .287 and set a career high with 28 homers that season. He was traded to the Reds before the 1976 season, and he ranks sixth in Expos franchise in walks (502), ninth in home runs (118) and tied for tenth in games (951) to go with 791 hits and 466 RBIs. He won a title in his first season with the “Big Red Machine” and finished his career with the Red Sox in 1978. Bailey was a minor league coach in the Expos organization over the next decade and passed away in 2018 at age 75.

4. Larry Parrish – The Bailey trade opened the door for Parrish at third base in Montreal, and the Florida native responded by driving in at least 60 runs five times during his eight seasons with the franchise (1974-81). He was inconsistent during the first half of his Expos tenure, although he did hit three home runs in a game in late May 1977, and he is the only player to accomplish the feat three times with the franchise. Parrish had his best season in Montreal in 1979, when he earned his first All-Star selection and finished fourth in the MVP voting after setting a career high with a .307 average to go with 167 hits, 30 home runs and 82 RBIs.

Parrish was traded to the Rangers following the 1981 season, finishing his time with the Expos ranked ninth in franchise history in games (967) and tied for tenth in triples (24) while adding 421 runs, 896 hits, 208 doubles, 100 homers, 444 RBIs and 1,452 total bases. He also played in 10 games in the team’s first postseason appearance, totaling five runs, eight hits, three doubles and three RBIs. Parrish spent the next seven seasons in Texas, earning an All-Star selection after driving in 100 runs in 1987. He was traded to Boston the following year and played two years in Japan before retiring in 1990. Parrish was a minor league manager and major league coach for the Tigers, and he had a stint as manager of the big-league club in 1998-99. He spent the next 15 years in the minor leagues as a manager for the Tigers and Braves before retiring in 2015.

3. Anthony Rendon – His career can be split in half. Thankfully for the Nationals, he spent the good half with their team. The Houston native was selected sixth overall by Washington in 2011 and two years later, he began his time terrorizing National League pitchers. In 2014, he won the silver slugger and finished in the top five of the MVP voting after posting a .287-21-83 stat line along with 176 hits and a league leading 111 runs. The following year, his play suffered thanks to a move to second base as well as knee and oblique injuries that limited him to 80 games. Rendon returned to form the following year, winning the Comeback Player of the Year Award after amassing 20 homer runs and 85 RBIs.

“Tony Two Bags” added another trophy to his case in 2017, winning the Best Performance Award after posting a .301-25-100 stat line. He batted .308 and led the league with 44 doubles the following year, then put together his best offensive season in 2019. In addition to 44 more doubles, Rendon also topped the National League with 126 RBIs, set personal bests with a .319 average and 117 runs and added 174 hits, leading to his only All-Star and All-MLB Team selections to date, another silver slugger and a third-place finish in the MVP voting. He used his stellar output to sign a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels in the offseason, finishing his seven-year Nationals tenure (2013-19) ranked fifth in slugging percentage (.490), seventh in doubles (245) and homers (136), eighth in RBIs (546) and walks (409), ninth in runs (571), hits (994) and total bases (1,677) and tenth in average (.290) and on-base percentage (.369) in 916 games. He also appeared in 31 postseason contests, totaling 16 runs, 33 hits, eight doubles, five home runs and 21 RBIs, and he hit two homers and drove in eight runs in the 2019 World Series victory over the Astros.

Since signing with the Angels, Rendon’s brilliant career has been marred by injury. He had a decent 2020 season, but his list of serious injuries is extensive: surgery on his right hip (2021), right wrist surgery (2022), physical confrontation with a fan and fractured tibia (2023), and hamstring tear and oblique injury (2024). Rendon had another hip surgery during spring training and has missed a significant portion of the 2025 season to this point. His totals for his entire Angels tenure don’t even live up to his final season with the Nationals (a .242-22-125 stat line overall).

2. Ryan Zimmerman – The North Carolina native was selected fourth overall by the Nationals in 2005 and had a 20-game call-up in September. Zimmerman finished as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award after batting .287 with 84 runs, 20 home runs and career highs with 176 hits, 47 doubles and 110 RBIs. During a nine-year run at third base, he amassed six seasons with at least 80 runs, 150 hits and 20 home runs, and five more with more than 30 doubles and 85 RBIs. Zimmerman had his best offensive season while manning the “hot corner” in 2009, earning All-Star, gold glove and silver slugger honors after posting a .292-33-106 stat line and setting career highs with 110 runs and 178 hits.

“Mr. National” followed that with a personal-best .307 average and 25 homers to earn a second straight silver slugger before an abdominal strain hurt his production in 2011. He rebounded to produce similar numbers in each of the next two seasons. Zimmerman moved to left field with Rendon in the fold in 2014, but shoulder and foot injuries hurt his production once again. He finished his career with six seasons at first base, earning one more All-Star selection in 2017 and being an integral part of the team’s run to the championship two years later.

Zimmerman spent his entire 16-year career with the Nationals, and he is the all-time franchise leader in games (1,799), runs (963), hits (1,846), doubles (417), home runs (284), RBIs 91,061), total bases (3,159) and strikeouts (1,384). He also ranks second in walks (646) to go along with his .277 average, two All-Star selections and two silver sluggers. The 2011 Lou Gehrig Award winner appeared in 35 postseason games, totaling 10 runs, 32 hits, seven doubles, five home runs and 17 RBIs, including two against the Astros in the World Series victory. In addition to his gold glove, Zimmerman led the league in putouts three times and assists and double plays twice each. He continues to work with the Nationals after his 2022 retirement, and he started a team-related podcast in 2025.

1. Tim Wallach – Two decades before Zimmerman, this Southern California native manned third base for the franchise. The tenth overall pick in 1979, he had a five-game stint with the Expos the following year and started full-time at the “hot corner” beginning in 1982. Wallach was a solid offensive player, but he had issues defensively. While his offensive numbers were steady, he worked on his fielding and won three gold gloves during his 13 seasons with Montreal (1980-92). At the plate, Wallach produced at least 30 doubles seven times, 150 hits six times, 20 home runs and 80 RBIs four times each and 80 runs twice. His best season came in 1987, when he finished fourth in the MVP voting and earned his third All-Star selection and second silver slugger after hitting 26 homers and 177 hits while setting career highs with a .298 average, 89 runs, 123 RBIs, 305 total bases and 42 doubles (which also led the league).

Wallach’s production dipped slightly the next two years, but he rebounded in 1990 to hit .296 with 98 RBIs and a personal-best 185 hits. He posted his best game in mid-May when he drove in eight runs in a victory over the Padres. Wallach saw his average drop significantly the following two seasons, and he was traded to the Dodgers late in 1992. He ranks second behind Zimmerman in several offensive categories for the franchise including games (1,767), hits (1,694), doubles (360), RBIs (905) and total bases (2,728). Wallach also ranks second in strikeouts (1,009), fourth in runs (737) and fifth in triples (31), home runs (204) and walks (514). In addition to five All-Star selections, three gold gloves and two silver sluggers, he appeared in the team’s first run to the postseason in 1981, getting a double, walking four times and scoring a run in five games.

During his run with the Dodgers, Wallach his 23 home runs in the strike-shortened 1994 seasons and appeared in the postseason twice before retiring in 1996. He was a coach with the Dodgers, and over the next decade, he worked as hitting and bench coaches for the big-league club and a manager in the minor leagues. Wallach spent four years as bench coach of the Marlins before stepping down in 2019. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

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