SAN FRANCISCO – After the Braves traded Justin Upton and Evan Gattis during the offseason, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez didn’t know if they’d have anyone who could adequately “protect” Freddie Freeman by making opposing pitchers think twice about pitching around him.
So far that hasn’t been much of an issue. Several hitters, but primarily A.J. Pierzysnki, Kelly Johnson and Nick Markakis, have done effective stints hitting behind Freeman, who batted cleanup early in the season and moved back to the third spot in the order in the 17th game April 25.
“At the beginning of the year we were worried about, who’s going to hit behind Freeman?” Gonzalez said. “And I think 40, 50 games into the season, we’ve been pretty lucky protecting him. I think early on Pierzysnki was the hottest man on earth hitting behind him. I think when we moved Nicky to the leadoff spot, Kelly Johnson did a nice job hitting behind him.
“Kelly goes down with an oblique and we stick Nicky back there, and he’s done a nice job also. So we don’t have to worry about that, protecting Freeman.”
Freeman has struggled some in the past couple of weeks and was batting .290 with only five home runs, 23 RBIs and a .362 OBP and .466 slugging percentage before Thursday, well below his usual pace in homers and RBIs. But the Braves don’t think it’s been a result of the hitters around him.
Versatile veteran Johnson was the Braves’ hot-hitting home-run leader when he moved into the fourth spot behind Freeman for five consecutive games behind straining an oblique muscle in his side May 13 and landing on the 15-day disabled list. He hasn’t resumed baseball activities yet, Gonzalez said Thursday.
When Johnson got hurt, Gonzalez moved Nick Markakis from leadoff to the cleanup spot behind Freeman, and that was 3-4 duo in the middle of the order for the 13th consecutive game Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series against the Giants. Although it was a bit of an unorthodox switch, considering Markakis had not hit a home run at the time of the move – and still hadn’t before Thursday – Gonzalez seems OK with the arrangement, at least for now.
At the cleanup spot, the Braves were only 13th among 15 NL teams in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) at .718 before Thursday and 11th in home runs with five, including four by Freeman in 57 at-bats before moving up a spot in the order. But they were a respectable seventh in the league in RBIs from cleanup hitters with 25, led by Pierynski’s nine in 31 at-bats, and their batting average at the cleanup spot has climbed steadily since Markakis moved to the spot.
Markakis was 15-for-44 (.341) with five doubles and a .408 OBP in the cleanup spot before Thursday.
