While Freddie Freeman has been on the disabled list recovering from a fractured left wrist, Matt Kemp and Matt Adams, the first baseman acquired via trade from St. Louis to fill in for Freeman, have continued to give the Braves a powerful 1-2 punch in the middle of the order, with Adams hitting fifth behind Kemp.
Each had a two-run homer in Wednesday's 5-3 win against the Giants, Kemp's a walk-off homer in the 11th inning. Adams had a .294 average with 11 homers, 29 RBIs and a .993 OPS in his first 30 games for the Braves, then homered and drove in two more runs Thursday in a wild win against the Giants.
Adams has surpassed the expectations of most everybody, but not Kemp’s.
“I’ve seen Matt play a lot, and I knew what he was capable of,” Kemp said. “He just hasn’t really had the opportunity to play every day (before coming to the Braves). I think he’s put up some pretty good numbers over there when he was in St. Louis, so it’s always been in him. Nothing he does really surprises me because I’ve played against him a lot and I’ve seen him play.”
Adams was 3-for-12 with a homer, four RBIs and a .900 OPS in four games for the Cardinals in their 2014 division-series win against Kemp’s Dodgers.
“Playing with the Dodgers, he torched us in the playoffs, so I love him and I hate him at the same time,” Kemp said. “I love him now because he’s with us, but I didn’t like it when I was with the Dodgers because he ruined my chances of going to the World Series.”
Adams’ 11 home runs were tied for the second-most in franchise history for a player’s first 30 games with the team, behind only Justin Upton’s 12 in his first 30 games for the Braves in 2013. Since his May 21 debut with the Braves, Adams’ 29 homers were tied for the major league lead and his 11 homers ranked third.
Freeman is expected to return in two or three weeks, either just before or after the All-Star break, and Freeman and the Braves announced Wednesday that he intends to return as a third baseman to keep Adams in the lineup at first base. Freeman played third base in high school but last played the position for five games in rookie ball in 2007.
It was Freeman’s idea for the position switch, and the Braves agreed it was an option worth trying as long as Freeman wanted to do it. While Freeman and the Braves could still change their minds, Freeman said he’s entirely of the “mindset” that he’s going to play third base when he gets back.
He’s got a smaller glove on order and has put his first-base mitt at the back of his locker, and for the first couple of days taking grounders at third he used a infield glove borrowed from his pal Kemp, who uses it in the outfield during workouts so he has to catch balls closer to the center of his glove.
Kemp didn’t sound entirely certain that Freeman would actually end up playing third base, but has no doubts that the 6-foot-5 first baseman can do it if he wants to.
“It’s something that he just threw out there,” Kemp said. “Freddie’s a baseball player, man. Nothing (he does) ever surprises me. He just knows how to play. I think he could play any position if he wanted to.
“We’ll see what happens. I know he’s working out at third base, but you never know. It would be fun to see him over there and see how he does.”
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