Earlier this season, Freddie Freeman became only the 102nd player in MLB history to reach at least 2,500 career hits. It was a monumental achievement for the 36-year-old, who is now in his 17th overall season and fifth with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Freeman has routinely delivered in the clutch throughout his career with the Atlanta Braves and Dodgers, providing timely hit after timely hit. Unsurprisingly, Max Muncy picked him as the player he would choose if needed to get a base knock with a game on the line.
“The guy has got 2,500 hits,” Max Muncy said during a recent episode of the “On Base with Mookie Betts” podcast.
And though Muncy’s answer was in response to picking a player to come up with one hit, he then couldn’t help but marvel at Freeman’s total doubles.
“I know he has a lot of doubles, but when I saw it on the board the other day that he has almost 1,500 doubles, that’s insane,” Muncy added. “It’s just every day is a double. It’s an impressive man. He’s been doing it for a long time.”
Mookie Betts also praised Freeman’s ability to produce at an elite level and with such a high number of extra-base hits.
“That’s disgusting,” Betts began. “You don’t even really realize it. And you don’t even realize the hit rate that he has, because you just get so used to it.”
Freeman has been a model of consistency for most of his career and is in the midst of another strong season. He entered the All-Star break hitting .290/.375/.487 with 23 doubles, 15 home runs and 49 RBI in 408 plate appearances across 94 games.
Though, there’s been some recent struggles, particularly on the Dodgers’ road thus far.
Freddie Freeman torn on future
Back in Spring Training, Freeman outlined multiple personal goals he wanted to achieve. Among them was reaching 3,000 hits and playing 20 seasons, which he recognized would need to come under a new contract as he is set to become a free agent after the 2027 season.
Freeman has since softened his stance on playing past next year in the wake of him and his wife, Chelsea, recently welcoming their fourth child.
“You’ve got to be healthy and you’ve got to play longer. I’ve played 17 years. You’ve got to keep going. Over the last year or two, 3,000 is a number I would love to get to but I have one year under contract left, so there’s still a lot of other factors that go into it,” he said.
“I’ve got four kids now and I’ve got to see what is going on there. I would love to get 3,000 hits. I would love to. I’m not going to deny it. Do I know if I’m going to get there? I don’t know. Hopefully people want me to still play after 2027.”
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