The Los Angeles Dodgers have a player who a National League manager hates to see in the batter’s box, and it is not Shohei Ohtani.
During an appearance on ESPN veteran reporter Buster Olney’s podcast, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was asked which player is the toughest to manage against.
His answer was not so surprising — first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Freeman has been one of the best hitters in baseball for years, making consistent contact and maintaining a real old-school approach to hitting.
When he steps in to hit, Marmol knows the pitching and defense have their hands full.
“I hate Freddie Freeman in the box. I love him when he’s not in the box,” the Cardinals coach said.
“He’s an incredible human man, and I enjoy talking to him. But he can beat you so many different ways, and he has such a good understanding of what he’s trying to do and what the pitcher’s trying to do and where the holes are.
“And I remember when we were able to shift against him prior to the new rules ban, and he would just pick you apart.
“He could do whatever he wanted with the bat, and I was, at the time, the first-base coach and controlling the infield defensive positioning, and he’d beat you up depending on what the game situation was. So he’s one of the tougher ones for sure.”
Why is Freddie Freeman so special?
Freeman is essentially a career .300 hitter, with a .299 actual average heading into Wednesday’s game.
His career BABIP, batting average on balls in play, is .340, showing how effective he is at putting the ball where defenders are not.
Additionally, he strikes out only 18.8% of the time and walks at a 11.4% clip. In his career, Freeman has 67.1 fWAR, consistently delivering with his bat, even by modern analytics.
He has been so effective for the most part because of his bat, rather than by adding value on the bases. His glove at first base has also been solid as well.
Even at 36, his sweet swing remains valuable to the Dodgers, given how productive he is.
