WASHINGTON – Seldom have the Braves so badly needed Freddie Freeman to do his thing against the Washington Nationals as they do now. Not for a playoff spot, but perhaps for everyone's sanity.
The Braves had lost 15 of 16 games and totaled 19 runs during an eight-game losing streak entering Thursday night’s opener of a four-game series against the Nationals.
Freeman entering the series with a .340 career average, 33 extra-base hits (nine home runs) and 44 RBIs in 79 games against the Nationals, including a stunning .407 average (68-for-167) with seven home runs, a .449 OBP and .635 slugging percentage in his past 43 games against them. The Braves were 24-19 in those games.
Freeman’s production in the second half of the season has been significantly reduced by two stints on the disabled list and trying to get back into a rhythm after returning from each. He was batting .224 (19-for-85) with three homers, nine RBIs and a .353 slugging percentage in 24 games going back to July 24. But he had three two-hit games in the past six before Friday, including four hits, four walks and a homer in a three-game series against the Yankees that ended Sunday.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good at the plate lately and been able to hit the ball hard, so hopefully that’ll continue this series,” said Freeman, who is healthy and said he’s shaken off the rest from his most-recent DL stint. “Yeah, everything’s good, I’ve been hitting the ball hard, been hitting the ball hard the other way.”
Despite the Braves’ plunge to fourth place in the National League East standings, 20 games behind the division-leading Mets and 13 ½ behind the second-place Nationals before Friday, Freeman said there was plenty to play for in September, beginning with the long weekend series at Nationals Park.
“We’ve got a young team, so this is a big opportunity to for a lot of young guys on this team to go out and show what you can do this month,” he said. “It’s a tough task because this group we’re going up again, they’re playing great ball; I think in St. Louis this week they could have won all three games. They’ve got a couple of guys hot and (Ryan) Zimmerman’s back swinging the bat like he used to his whole career. So we’ve got a tough task.”
