Freddie Freeman, 1B


Last year, Freeman posted a .282/.346/.448/.794 slash line despite playing his age 21 year. 21! Dude won't be 23 until the 2012 playoffs. The one defining characteristic that follows him atm seems to be his maturity. From mlb.com:

"Has an advanced idea of what to do at the plate, especially considering his age. Good pitch recognition leads to an ability to drive the ball, and he seems to be even better with runners on base. Should hit for average and more power in the future. Good defensive first baseman with an above-average arm (he was a pitcher in high school)."

That last part was what alleviated our fears about Freeman. He posted a -0.6 dWAR according to BBR (my default), which had us worrying he'd field like a Detroit 1Bman, but mlb plus other scouting reports suggest that was a fluke. I'm going with their diagnosis.

Minor League Smackdown compared Freddie to Belt and they came out close to even, with Belt getting the edge in current production, while Freddie projected slightly better. I like Belt, but Freddie is a year younger and has proven he belongs (LOLGiants). Seems like the kid has a bright future smashing faces. Glad it'll be for us.

Team ZBT Wise

Stephen Strasburg
Mike Trout
Jacoby Ellsbury
Neftali Feliz
Freddie Freeman