Freddie Freeman is in the midst of another solid season with the Los Angeles Dodgers despite his overall power numbers being down from their usual levels.
The 10-time All-Star hasn’t hit a home run since the Fourth of July, a span of 46 games and 193 plate appearances. He only has 10 doubles during that stretch, resulting in a lackluster .362 slugging percentage.
Freeman is surprised by his power outage but won’t make adjustments to try and record more extra-base hits, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group.
“No. Absolutely not,” Freeman said. “I will never chase a home run or chase an extra-base hit. That’s not who I am. I like to hit and, in my case over 17 years, that (slugging) has come. This year, it hasn’t come. I’m not going to go chase it because I am not a .280, .270 hitter, and if I chase home runs, that’s where my average is going to go and I don’t want to do that.
“I’d rather hit .300 even though I know I don’t steal bases and do all that. I still know I’m going to get on base 250-plus times a year. I view things differently. Believe me, I’d love to hit 20-plus home runs a year. Am I going to do it? I’ve got 20-some games. We’ll figure it out.”
Freeman has only 15 home runs this season, which would be the fewest of his career. However, he’s still finding ways to contribute to the Dodgers.
The 36-year-old entered Monday batting .304, which leads his Dodgers teammates. He’s one of just eight qualified hitters in the Majors with a .300 or better average this season. Freeman has batted at least .300 in nine of his 17 MLB seasons, including three with the Dodgers.
Freddie Freeman found success during road trip
Freeman recorded at least one hit in five of the Dodgers’ six games during their most recent road trip against the Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers. He went 8-for-23 (.348) with two doubles and two RBI during the span.
However, Freeman’s hot hitting wasn’t enough to help the Dodgers finish with a winning record. They were swept by the Braves before bouncing back to take two of three from the Tigers.
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