SAN FRANCISCO – Freddie Freeman hadn’t homered in 20 games before Friday and had just one homer in137 at-bats over his past 36 games. But the power drought was not anything that concerned the Braves first baseman.
His inconsistency at the plate this season, and his recent slump and barrage of strikeouts. Those are things that weigh on him.
“I haven’t been around to talk to (reporters) for a week, because I’ve been so in my head,” Freeman said, laughing at himself a bit before Friday night’s game against the Giants. “But it’ll come around. It always does.”
Freeman’s overall stats weren’t bad — .289 average, .360 OBP, 16 doubles, five homers, 23 RBIs, .821 OPS in 47 games before Friday – with only the OBP significantly down from last season (.386). But he’s gotten to those numbers in a more erratic path than usual for him.
It’s been a season of hot and cold, and lately it’s been chilly. He had four homers and eight RBIs in the first 11 games of the season, then went 1-for-18 with one walk and seven strikeouts over his next five.
That was followed immediately by his hottest stretch, hitting .452 (28-for-62) over the next 16 games with 11 doubles, one homer, 10 RBIs and a .514 OBP and .677 slugging percentage. And then, just as suddenly as he got hot, his bat went cold again.
Freeman was 10-for-54 (.185) with two extra-base hits and five RBIs in his past 14 games before Friday, and had five walks, 20 strikeouts and a .267 OBP in that period. It almost directly coincided with the move of Nick Markakis to the cleanup spot behind Freeman, but Markakis has hit for a high average since the move and Freeman said he hasn’t noticed any difference in pitches he’s seeing.
“Obviously I might be chasing a little bit more than I (usually do) lately,” he said. “I think I’ve got to start taking more walks, and that will (result in) better pitches to hit. Nick’s doing his job behind me. If I can get some better pitches to hit, make some better contact instead of striking out every single plate appearance.”
Freeman was asked if he’d noticed anything on video with his swing that might be a little off, or any specific pitches that he was struggling against.
“I don’t really watch video,” said Freeman, known for his simple, see-pitch, put-the-front-foot-down-and-swing approach. “But I see the replay, like when I do strike out and I’m walking back to the dugout, I look up and see if they do show the replay of me swinging and missing. Against (Dodgers pitcher Zack) Greinke, he threw me a 1-2, like, 88 mile-an-hour slider right down the middle, and I just swung and missed (on Wednesday).
“I liked my swing, I liked everything, I just think I’m not getting loaded in time. Everything’s kind of rushed to get to the ball. I’m seeing the ball, everything feels good up there, it’s just one of those things where it’s just a millimeter different in not getting on time.”
As for home runs, “I’ve never been a guy that’s consistently hit home runs,” he said. “It’s always seemed to come, like three or four in a week or two, and then I’ll shut it down for a couple of weeks. So I’m not real worried about that. Obviously being a first baseman, you’re kind of expected to hit some home run. Obviously that goes into your head; it gets into my head a little bit. But I can’t think about that right now. Right now I’ve got to think about getting the ball to left-center, and then once I get that, getting the back spin on the ball will start coming.”
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