LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The stat line indicated Freddie Freeman sizzled through the first week of spring training games, going 5-for-11 with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs in his first five games before Wednesday and leading the National League with a 1.182 slugging percentage.
But Freeman couldn’t care much less about spring-training stats at this stage of his career. The two-time All-Star first baseman isn’t competing for a job, he’s trying to get ready for the season. And before Wednesday he didn’t like where his swing was despite the stats and the fact that he was tied for the Grapefruit League lead in homers and RBIs.
“I’m not where I want to be now, I’m not hitting balls to left-center and up the middle,” said Freeman, who pulled a three-run homer to right field in Tuesday’s 3-2 win against the Mets. “Obviously I’m happy with the results I’m getting, but I’d rather line out up the middle. I’d rather be 0-for-11 with 11 line-outs up the middle.
“But I’m getting there. Working harder. I hit a ball up the middle off Bartolo (Colon) in the first inning (Tuesday), which I thought I hit harder than the home run yesterday. So we’re getting there. Work in progress. I feel good, that’s all you can ask for. The swing will come later on.”
In his first at-bat Wednesday against the Cardinals, he hit a two-out double off left-hander Marco Gonzalez, again to the right side of the field, albeit in the gap.
Freeman knows how it must sound to the average observer who sees five extra-base hits, two walks and one strikeout in his first dozen at-bats and figures he must be in mid-season form. Even Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday, “He really is swinging at good. It’s nice to see. You wish you could know when to stop playing him so he could carry that into the season.”
But that’s not how Freeman felt at the plate. More than most hitters with similar size and power – 85 homers over the past four seasons – he’s always been a hitter who tries to hit the ball to the opposite field as much as possible, rather than pulling it to right field. When Freeman’s at his best, the left-handed slugger wears out the left-center gap and up the middle.
For Freeman and most other established hitters, spring-training statistics aren’t the point. Getting comfortable at the plate and getting the swing where they want it — those are the objectives.
“That’s why in spring training sometimes you might be 0-for-30 and you might feel the best you’ve ever felt,” Freeman said. “That’s all I want to feel like. Like, I’ll talk to Uggs (Dan Uggla) and he might go 0-for-2 but it’s like, hey, how’d you feel up there? Like, I talked to Jason (Heyward), I talked to Justin (Upton) — he said he feels good, he’s hitting the ball up the middle. He asked how I’m feeling and I said, not very good, I’m pulling everything. He goes, ‘you’ve hit two home runs and a couple of doubles.’ I’m like, they’re all to right field. They know from playing me that I’m not really a right-field hitter.”
On the other hand, Freeman could see something positive in pulling the ball with authority early in spring training.
“I guess it’s kind of good that maybe I show I can pull the ball, and (pitchers will) go back outside and all of a sudden I’m hitting the ball to left-center,” he said. “I mean, I can’t complain. I’m able to turn on balls now and (pitchers) haven’t really gone outside. That’s been the thing the last couple of years, they’ve tried to pitch me in more. Maybe it’s helping me work on it and maybe I can carry it into the season.
“But I just need to hit some balls up the middle, get some line drives. And I’ve still got three weeks to figure it out.”
