KISSIMMEE, FLA. — It is not a pose at the plate that the Braves long-ball/gap-hitting first-baseman, Freddie Freeman, ever assumes.
But there he was with his first at-bat Tuesday against Houston hunching that 6-5 frame in the attitude of a large man trying to bunt the ball.
Twice against the Astros defensive shift — a common alignment against the pull-hitting left-hander that leaves the entire left side of the infield unmanned — Freeman tried to lay a bunt down the third base side. And twice he fouled off the attempt. Squandering two strikes, he then struck out swinging.
As uncommon as it is for the Braves No. 3 hitter, their most imposing bat, to be experimenting with such small-ball tactics, expect to see more of it in the closing days of spring, Freeman said.
“That is probably going to (happen) a lot more in the next 10 days, just got to get it into their heads that I can do it at any given time,” he said.
“We talked about it before the game. He said he was going to do it and I’m all for it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
“Why not?” he added. “That’s the only way you’re going to break it (the shift).”
The parameters for Freeman squaring up to bunt are pretty strict. It won’t happen with runners in scoring position (the situation Tuesday — man on first, one out). And not against left-handed pitchers who naturally fall off the mound toward the third-base side.
“Leading off an inning you never know, I could get a bunt base hit and start a rally,” he said. “I’m definitely going to be working on it the next 10 days and hopefully I can do it in games.”
As was demonstrated Tuesday, Freeman is an unfinished bunter. There is much work to be done to downsize that mighty swing.
“Yeah, I do find (bunting) difficult, especially when you haven’t done it in 26 years,” Freeman said with a chuckle.
“I keep losing the barrel, I don’t keep it up high enough,” he said. “Obviously, I know what I’m doing wrong. I just got to be able to practice and work on it.”
