Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has two doubles and two home runs in 35 at-bats but is hitting just .229 because of several hard line drives that went right at defenders or towering fly balls that died just short of the outfield wall.
Freeman just missed on a long fly ball out in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Marlins. He had two deep fly-ball outs to center in Tuesday’s game in addition to a home run.
“Nothing is falling right now,” Freeman said. “But it’s still early. I’ve just got to keep grinding, keep putting good swings on the ball and hopefully they’ll start falling in Toronto.”
Even with the bad luck Freeman still leads Braves regulars with a .457 slugging percentage. He’s stuck out nine times and has two walks.
Freeman, a two-time All-Star, is the only consistent power hitter left in the lineup for the Braves after they traded Justin Upton, Evan Gattis and Jason Heyward after last season.
“He’s hit the ball hard all homestand,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “The only time he gets credit for it is when he hits it out of the ballpark. Everything else is a line drive (out) here, a line drive there. Those are good things. You’ve just got to be patient and you will be rewarded because he’s got good swings right now.”
