Atlanta Braves: Freddie Freeman’s luck will change soon
The Atlanta Braves are counting on Freddie Freeman to be the rock for their offense yet again in 2021. He is coming off of his best season in the majors last year, as he led the majors in runs and doubles while posting an impressive 182 OPS+ while taking home the NL MVP award. As the Braves look to win their fourth consecutive NL East title, Freeman will be a key part of their lineup.
Unfortunately, Freeman is not finding any success in the early going. Of the 26 balls that he has put into play, only one has fallen for a base hit. His .038 batting average on balls in play is utterly putrid.
Freddie Freeman running into bad luck for Atlanta Braves
Freeman has still been relatively productive, considering his bad luck with balls in play. He has hit four homers (which do not count since a fielder cannot make a play on the ball) and is still drawing walks. The problem is that nothing in falling in for a hit.
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It is not Freeman’s fault. He has been hammering the ball in the early going, ranking in the 88th percentile in hard hit rate, 85th percentile in average exit velocity, and 84th percentile in barrel rate. His expected .304/.471/.783 batting line is much closer to what anyone would have expected.
Eventually, one has to imagine that these numbers will even out. With the way Freeman is hitting the ball, those hits will begin to fall as these line drives and sharp grounders find the outfield grass instead of the gloves of the defense.
That could happen in short order. With the way Freeman has been swinging the bat, success will come. The hits will start to fall like rain as the Braves offense will kick into gear once again. He will be just fine in the long run.
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Freddie Freeman has been hammering the ball for the Atlanta Braves this year. The only problem is that the results have not been there.