If it wasn’t for a wrist injury, Freddie Freeman would be firmly in the MVP discussion. But even missing seven weeks, he’s put together arguably the best season of his career.
Much was made of Freeman's "wet newspaper" comments, though it hasn't exactly slowed him down. Freeman at 80, 85 percent is still an MVP-caliber hitter.
“It’s been a little inconsistent lately, but I think I’ve got it back to where I can grind it out for the next 15 games and produce like I want to,” he said. “I obviously wanted to play every single game (down the stretch) and I’m on track to do that, so I will hopefully continue to do that.”
Freeman is hitting .429 over the current homestand and collected his 27th home run on Saturday. He’s averaging a homer every 14.1 at-bats, the best mark of his career. His opposite-field power has particularly stood out.
“Yeah, I stopped taking batting practice about 2 ½ weeks ago and that’s helped a lot,” Freeman said. “In order for me to save my bullets, and I haven’t been going into the game tired, so I think taking off BP has helped a lot.”
Freeman admitted he’s battled through some pain, but he’s made it clear at every opportunity: He’s playing the final two weeks of the season. And reaching the 30-homer plateau is meaningful.
“I got off to a nice start, had that little bump in the road, hopefully I can continue and make it three more in 15 games,” he said. “It (30 home runs) definitely would be nice, so hopefully I can put some more over the wall.”
Helping his case will be four remaining games against the Mets. Since 2011, Freeman has 139 hits against the Mets, most in the majors and 35 more than Ryan Zimmerman’s 104.
As for wondering what could’ve been, Freeman doesn’t think much about it – except when his coaches remind him.
"Yeah, I think when first-base coaches remind me that I have 27 home runs and I missed seven weeks like he did tonight, that's the only time I think about it," he said. "But you know, it's baseball. Crazy things happen, crazy injuries happen, and that happened to me this year, so I've got to put that behind me and look forward like I have and keep producing."
