WASHINGTON – When the Braves lost Freddie Freeman to a fractured wrist, the general consensus was their overall offense would be reduced dramatically and their production from the first-base position would be decimated.
Enter Matt Adams, aka “Big City.”
Since adding him to the lineup three days after Freeman went on the disabled list, the Braves have continued to get robust offense from first base. He went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs in Monday’s wild 11-10 Braves win at Nationals Park, giving him six homers and 13 RBIs in his past 11 games.
Since joining the Braves lineup May 21, Adams was tied for the National League lead with eight homers.
“He’s good, huh?” said Braves catcher Tyler Flowers, whose three-run homer in the ninth inning was the decisive blow, after Adams got the late rally started with a leadoff homer in the eighth. “He’s doing great. I mean, yeah, we go from one stud (Freeman) to another. It’s been big.
“I don’t want to jump out that far, but it’s almost (like) first base hasn’t missed a beat. He’s really filled in, I think probably beyond anyone’s expectations or hopes, really. He’s doing it. Quality at-bats, (facing) tough starters, hanging in there on lefties.”
Before Tuesday, Braves first basemen led the majors in home runs (22), OPS (1.070) and slugging percentage (.664), and ranked second in runs (50), third in on-base percentage (.406), fifth in batting average (.307), fifth in hits (43), seventh in walks (37) and tied for eighth in RBIs (44).
At the time of his injury, Freeman led the NL in homers (14) and ranked second in on-base percentage (.461), slugging percentage (.748) and extra-base hits (26), fifth in walks (26) and sixth in batting average (.343). The only Atlanta Braves player with more homers in the team’s first 36 games was the legendary Hank Aaron.
Freeman didn’t require surgery but was expected to miss about 10 weeks, after which the Braves will have to decide whether to keep Adams as a needed big bat on their bench or trade him in a deal that could potentially bring back good young talent, given that Adams is still a year away from free agency and has shown what he can do playing regularly.
Adams had a modest .270 average and .323 OBP in 22 games since joining the Braves, but with eight home runs, 19 RBIs and a robust .607 slugging percentage for a .930 OPS. The Braves were 10-12 in games he played through Monday.
“I think if you ask anybody, playing every day is a big thing,” said Adams, who was a bench player with St. Louis before the Cardinals traded him to the Braves. “You’re able to get out there and get your rhythm back, get your timing back, and you just know that you’re going to be in there every day. So it’s a good feeling. It’s just nice to know that day in, day out, whether it’s a righty or a lefty, I’m going to be in there.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said, “That’s all I can do for him is just put him in there. I told him when he got here, it’s going to be a good opportunity because you’re going to be out there every day. I don’t care left or right, whatever. And he’s doing very well. He’s taken that opportunity and done a great job. He’s come in here and fit right in, he’s just, it’s like he’s been here since Feb. 9, really. He’s just assimilated into what we’re doing, and our clubhouse and team, really well. It kind of speaks to the character of the person.”
Adams said that part about fitting in well with the team has been fairly easy, mainly because they made it that way.
“Especially with this group of guys, it’s fun to go out there and play,” he said. “Like I said my first couple of days, seeing it from the other side – them never giving up till that last out’s recorded – and last night was a perfect example. It’s just fun to be a part of it now and embrace everything, just play the game hard and play the game the right way.”
While their scoring average was down by a half-run in 26 games since Freeman’s Feb. 17 injury, the Braves have produced similarly in most offensive categories before and after Freeman’s injury, and actually improved in several categories with Matt Kemp, Ender Inciarte, Flowers and others all doing their part to pick up some of the slack.
The Braves were two games under .500 (12-14) since Freeman was injured and had 26 homers, 110 runs (4.2) and a .267 batting average, .326 OBP and .420 slugging percentage (.746 OPS) in that stretch. Their pitchers had a 4.42 ERA.
In 37 games through the May 17 game when Freeman got hurt, the Braves were 16-21 and totaled 38 homers, 174 runs (4.7 per game) and hit .261 with a .334 OBP and .404 slugging percentage (.738 OPS). They had a 4.74 ERA in that period.
The Braves were 6-5 during Adams’ torrid stretch through Monday, a run bookended by his pair of two-homer games on June 3 at Cincinnati (3-for-6, five RBIs) and Monday at Washington. He only had eight strikeouts in those 11 games including no strikeouts in three of his past four games.
“I don’t know how we could have done any better (than trade for Adams after Freeman got hurt),” Snitker said.
