When Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman woke up on Saturday morning, he was hitting .285; for him, that’s just not good enough.
“Obviously, I haven’t played the way I expect myself to play,” he said. “Anybody can put expectations on you, but I’m going to put more on me than anybody else combined.”
That batting average puts him in the top 25 in the majors, ahead of about 130 other players who qualify for the list. Freeman has a long list of accomplishments, including a World Series title and an MVP award, but when he’s at the ballpark, none of that matters to him; he’s working on his swing.
Freddie Freeman: Adopting a New Routine Off the Field
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Freeman knows he still has it, “Still waiting for the really, really hot streak, Just trying to get a pitch to hit,” Freeman said after hitting a grand slam on May 20. “But I’m always sitting fastball. I haven’t come off the fastball in 15 years.”
He’s going to be 35-years-old at the end of this season. “If I’m going to do the same thing I did at 25 and expect the same thing, that’s just not smart.” Over the past few weeks, he met with a player performance coach and Dodgers trainer, Thomas Albert, to devise a plan to keep his body in condition.
On a road trip in San Diego last week, Freeman started a medicine ball and resistance-band workout before games. Father Time always wins, but Freddie Freeman wants to delay it as long as he can.
The Dodgers Aren’t Worried About Freeman
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The Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman is taking a lot of BP over the last month, a month that has been very successful for the team. The Dodgers are in first place in the NL West and have a six-game lead over the San Diego Padres.
“I think with Freddie the great thing about him is it’s not always about results,” Roberts said. “Obviously he likes to get hits and drive runs in. But it’s a feel thing, too, and he just hasn’t really felt good. He can’t consistently take the swing that he wants to take. But to his credit, he’s in there fighting every pitch.”
Freddie’s Routine Started with His Father
Freddie Freeman grew up about an hour south of Dodger Stadium. Starting when he was in second grade his father would take him to a field near their home with a bucket of baseballs. Father Fred would throw BP to young Freddie for about an hour.
“My dad didn’t have a book of, ‘This is what we’re gonna do to make you be a major league baseball player,’ ” Freeman said.
He never had a hitting coach before he was drafted; he had dad. Freddie learned how to hit to all fields; they had four dozen balls, so he learned to hit 48 to left field, 48 to center and 48 to right.
“It was just, my dad loves the game of baseball, and I love the game of baseball, so … we’re gonna have batting practice, and we’re gonna have fun.”
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Bradley Tachco is a career journalist. I spent 12+ years at CNN as a writer and producer. My sports are the NHL, MLB, and NFL. My goal: unique content. And my teams are the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills (yes, I’m a masochist), and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have been a Dodgers fan since I was old enough to think. I have gone through decades of despair with all three franchises. You can follow Bradley on X @p09691
