Crazy thing about the coming All-Star game and the overall riot of youth in baseball: Freddie Freeman is 29, still on the sunny side of his career arc. And, yet, he is the eldest National League starter in Tuesday’s All-Star game in Cleveland.
When his father broke out the needle earlier in the week and jabbed him about growing old, Freeman reminded pops that only meant that he was aging, too. Aren’t we all?
Freeman hasn’t seen it all yet – he would, for instance, like to win at least one playoff series, and preferably more, before he dodders into retirement. But he has been to three previous All-Star games. In the Braves clubhouse, that makes him the veritable Yoda of the Midsummer Classic.
And when he describes what it is like to go to one of these elite conventions, Freeman makes it sound like just the best kind of frat mixer. He’s already one of the most sociable players in baseball – every opponent who makes his way to first gets a chatty reception. Freeman’s the maître d’ of first base. And then comes an All-Star game and a full-blown sleepover party breaks out.
Freeman points to blooming friendships with rivals such as Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto as the result of All-Star interaction.
“You can compete against them, and you may not like them when you compete against them, but then you get in the same clubhouse and they’re actually great guys,” Freeman said. “And you just become great friends with them. It makes that competition when you go back even more fun. So now it’s like, me and deGrom, I want to get him as much as he wants to get me, because we’ve become close friends. It becomes bragging rights. That’s the greatest thing about the All-Star Game.”
Freeman will act as the spirit guide next week for two teammates who drastically threw off the age curve inside the NL clubhouse – 21-year-olds Ronald Acuna and Mike Soroka. A fourth Brave is going, too, manager Brian Snitker as an “honorary coach.” Snitker’s taking the title to heart, saying that he plans to do no actual coaching whatsoever.
Such a healthy representation means there is no shortage of Braves-related fodder leading to a couple nights of excess in Cleveland. To wit:
Acuna vs. Home Run Derby Hex
Is there really any one event that could radically unravel Acuna’s swing?
Certainly not if you believe that swing to be a divine favor, like Secretariat’s plus-sized heart or Gordon Ramsay’s palate.
And certainly not the All-Star Home Run Derby, say the Braves. You know the refrain: One night swinging for the fences is the reputed ruination of many a grooved swing, an act of outright self-sabotage.
But there’s every indication Acuna, who instantly agreed to take part in Monday’s Derby, might call it something else altogether different:
Batting practice.
When you hear Acuna’s approach to this big preamble event, it should calm concerns. “I’m not planning on doing anything different,” he said through an interpreter. “I’m just going to see the ball and try to hit the ball.”
Freeman competed, if briefly, in last year’s Derby and lived to tell about it. His numbers were more impressive pre-All-Star break than post in batting average (.315-.301), home runs per at-bats (1 per 22.6 to 1 per 36.6), slugging percentage (.533-.465). But the drop-off was only marginally apparent.
“I’m real excited to see Acuna – more excited than I was to do it because he’s going to put on a better show than I did,” said Freeman, who was eliminated by Bryce Harper in the first round of the Derby.
“I have no concerns at all (about the affect on Acuna’s swing). Ronald’s going to do great for us in the second half. I think that’s a myth,” he added.
Acuna’s a veteran hand at the Home Run Derby thing, having competed in one this winter back home in Venezuela. He said he finished runner-up.
The stage should suit him, providing Acuna the freedom to admire his long home runs and bat-flip to his heart’s content. Just remember, the clock is running.
Besides, admit it, you want to see him do this. His teammates sure do. “I told him I’ll be there with a towel and Gatorade, snacks, whatever he wants, whatever helps him win that big prize,” Soroka said. Winner gets $1 million.
It’s great to be an All-Star, eh
Among the tsunami of congratulations that washed over Soroka was a most meaningful text from Larry Walker, the five-time All-Star born in Maple Ridge, Canada. “Kind of cool, him being a Canadian idol,” said Soroka, a Calgary fellow himself. “I was blown away.”
Besides being the youngest-ever Braves pitcher named an All-Star, he’s also the youngest-ever Canadian named to the team. And the lone Canadian this year.
“Larry Walker, Justin Morneau, Joey Votto, those were the guys I grew up knowing as Canadian idols,” he said. “And to see it every year one arm after another coming out of the bullpen (regardless of nationality) – some amazing stuff comes out of there. To be kind of in that class now is something I can’t even fathom. I’m just going to go out there and let it go.”
All-Stars in a hurry
Neither Acuna nor Soroka act their age, which is precisely what got them to Cleveland.
With the outfielder, it’s all about a fearless kind of flair. Acuna has waited in no line to pay his dues. He has asked for no one’s permission to be this young and this flamboyantly good.
The question, then, given all the passion with which he plays: Does he tone it down at all being the kid in a very impressive room, and just go deferentially about his first All-Star appearance?
Such a thought is as foreign to Acuna as bib overalls. “I plan on going out there the same way. I got no reason to change the style with which I play I’m just going to go out there and play my game like I always do,” he said.
Soroka has taken more the old-soul approach to the All-Star game. All the talk about him concerns the almost unnatural maturity this 21-year-old possesses.
So, when asked about which other All-Star he most wants to meet, Soroka mentions Washington start Max Scherzer. Purely for educational purposes, to get a better feel for his approach on the mound. “He’s kinda been the guy to watch in baseball – for pitchers – the last few years,” he said. “He’s a guy I’ll watch throw whenever I can.”
And when experiencing his first All-Star game, Soroka says he wants to make sure he takes it all in with his eyes rather than through the smaller window of a cellphone camera, as too many do with big-life events these days. What, is this guy really 60, but with a really good dermatologist?
A long trip in a short time
To truly appreciate Soroka’s rise to All-Star prominence, remember where he was just four months ago. In fleeting glimpses, he had shown immense promise last season. Still, entering camp as a fifth-starter candidate, he was immediately sidetracked by stubborn shoulder soreness. Soroka missed a great swath of the spring and only joined the big-league team in mid-April. And immediately established himself as a top-of-the-rotation guy when no one else took the bit.
The suddenness of this is all a little dizzying.
“I’m so thankful and blown away that it happened this early,” he said. “At the beginning of this year I wasn’t thinking about accomplishments – midseason or end of the season. It was just about getting back in the rotation and putting up some quality games for this team.”
His father informed him a month ago that he was making plans to go to Cleveland for the All-Star game. Even at that stage, Soroka himself wasn’t sure he’d join him. The question he had was the same one everyone else was asking: How could all this be happening so quickly?
Many more to come
If Freeman had one overarching piece of advice to give his youthful All-Star teammates, it would be to take nothing for granted. It’s not like he’s ever told his family, “Ah, it’s OK if you don’t make it to this All-Star trip, there’ll always be another.”
For Acuna, specifically, he offers: “There’s so much going on. I did what he did last year; it’s crazy. But you do it. In this game you just don’t know (when you’ll be back). I mean, I think we all know he’s going to go to a lot of All-Star games, but you never know.”
“God willing,” Acuna said, when asked if this is only the first All-Star appearance of many. “With work and dedication, hopefully there will be many more to follow.”
Deep down, don’t we all know – as sure as anyone can dare be – that the Braves are set up to be a regular supplier of players to this showcase?
“This team is so young, so dynamic. I think (for instance) Max Fried is real close to going every single year,” said the wise old head, Freeman, of the 25-year-old starter.
“This team is so fun to watch, so fun to be a part of. It’s not going to be just three guys (in the All-Star game). It’s going to be a lot of guys for years to come.”
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