Freddie Freeman is Quietly Having an MLB-Caliber Season for the Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman is an MLB veteran of 16 seasons, but he’s currently on pace to have his best performance yet.

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Freeman is slashing .376/.437/.734 with nine home runs, 33 runs batted in, and an OPS of 1.171. He would have the second-best batting average and OPS in the big leagues — only behind New York Yankees star Aaron Judge — but doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify just yet.

In Sunday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers star went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run.

The first baseman’s defense is equally as impressive. Freeman ranks in the 90th percentile in Outs Above Average, per Baseball Savant.

The 35-year-old’s strong start to the season has largely gone unnoticed, even by manager Dave Roberts.

“I looked up the other day and saw he was hitting .360, I had no idea,” Roberts admitted. “He’s just been relentless. He’s just taking good at-bats. And I looked up the other day and saw he was hitting .360, I had no idea. But kind of, when you look into it, he’s just really – like I said, he’s just been relentless.”

As evidenced by Roberts’ remarks, it’s hard to put into words just how well Freeman — whose surgically repaired ankle is not fully healed — is performing. The first baseman is one of many seasoned veterans on a Dodgers roster that is the oldest in the league, but Freeman hopes his numbers dismiss any narratives regarding a decline in play because of age.

“I’m glad people can look at me and see that you can still do it later on,” Freeman said to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, “but in my mind, age is just a number. I think if you take care of yourself, it doesn’t matter what your age is. I hope the age [narrative] gets thrown out the window because if you’re a good baseball player, you’re a good baseball player, it doesn’t matter what age you are.”

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Photo Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

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