Freddie Freeman was named among the National League reserves for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game, marking an eighth career selection to the event and third with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Freeman fared well in All-Star Game voting but had the misfortune of being up against the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper.
Harper not only remained in first place but he also led all NL players in fan voting, which guaranteed him a starting spot in the lineup and by rule prevented Freeman from advancing to Phase 2.
Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández were finalists for voting, but only Ohtani garnered enough support to be an All-Star Game starter.
That was much to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ frustration, as he called on fans to be more active during the voting process.
“It’s interesting, because a lot of it is based on popularity and certain fanbases that are more active voting. My encouragement for Dodgers fans is to get off your hands and start voting for your players,” Roberts said last month.
“Because you look at all these other fanbases, the players aren’t nearly having the seasons that our guys are having, and they’re leading the fan voting. So that’s what’s disappointing for me as a manager, because the players are not going to promote themselves. So it’s about the fans supporting their players.”
Freeman is in the midst of another strong season even if it has come with uncharacteristically longer stretches of scuffling at the plate. He entered play Sunday batting .301/.405/.508 with 25 doubles, 13 home runs and 58 RBI while having started in every Dodgers game so far this season.
Freeman’s 157 wRC+ and 3.3 fWAR are second to Harper (169 and 3.9) among all NL first basemen, but he does lead the group in doubles.
Freddie Freeman’s All-Star Game history
On top of being an All-Star every season with the Dodgers, Freeman now is in the midst of a streak of four consecutive selections. He made the All-Star Game back-to-back seasons in 2013 and 2014, but not again until 2018 and 2019.
Last year, Freeman became just the third Dodgers first baseman to start in an All-Star Game, joining Steve Garvey and Gil Hodges. Garvey received the honor via fan voting from 1974-1980.
Freeman played four innings and went 0-for-1 with one walk in the Midsummer Classic at T-Mobile Park in 2023.
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