The first time Major League Baseball named Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman the NL player of the week the team was surging but their record still was in the dumps. MLB gave Freeman the award again on Tuesday and, again, his bat is a big reason the Braves are winning.
The difference this time is the Braves have posted a respectable record over the past month.
“A lot more enjoyable than when I first won it this year,” Freeman said Tuesday. “We weren’t playing very good at that time. You don’t really play this game for individual awards but when you are playing well it’s nice to get recognized.”
During the week ending Sunday, Freeman hit.400 (8-for-20) in six games with a .600 on-base percentage and an NL-leading .850 slugging percentage. He scored seven runs, recorded seven RBIs and had 17 total bases.
It’s the fourth NL player of the week award for Freeman. In addition to winning it for the week ending June 19, he won it twice during the 2012 season.
Freeman’s production has been streakier than usual this season but his overall numbers were never bad after a slow start. He’s been one of the best hitters in the majors since June 1 with an on-base plus slugging of 1.079 through Monday, the second-best mark in MLB.
Freeman already has set career highs for home runs (38), doubles (38) and triples (six). He’s on pace to set or match his career bests for on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
“People say I had a pretty terrible first two months but even in that first two months I got my (batting) average up to (.289),”Freeman said. “I just had two bad slumps. I felt like I was playing well in between some bad areas. Once I figured it out in June, it hasn’t slowed down yet.”
