Freddie Freeman has been one of the hottest hitters in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup of late, and it comes at a time in which he is approaching two significant career milestones.
The six-time All-Star enters play Wednesday one home run away from No. 300, and he needs 46 hits to reach 2,000. Freeman led all of baseball with 199 hits in his first season with the Dodgers and already has 53 this year.
The 33-year-old believes he will have a chance to join the 3,000 hits club by the end of his career if he is able to stay healthy and maintain his elite production, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“I’ve always been a hit guy,” Freeman said. “I mean, there’s a chance, if I can just stay healthy and play like I normally do. But who knows how you age and stuff like that? … It’s just a lot of factors.”
Freeman reflected on his career and is proud that he has been able to play as long as he has, noting most players aren’t even in the league for five years:
“Just 2,000 hits is a lot of hits, if you really think about it,” Freeman said. “That’s 200 hits for 10 years, and you’re lucky to even play five years in this game.
“You don’t really think about numbers until you’re done and you can contemplate and appreciate what you did. For me, it’s more of, I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to play for so long. … One of the hardest things is to get here. But the hardest thing to do is to stay here and then to be an everyday regular, that’s extremely hard to do.”
Freeman is in his 14th MLB season after spending the first 12 with the Atlanta Braves and has shown no signs of slowing down. In 43 games, he is batting .312/.387/.518 with 14 doubles, seven home runs and 22 RBI.
Dave Roberts: Freddie Freeman ‘changes the game’
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently highlighted Mookie Betts and Freeman as superstars who can impact any game on any given night.
“It is. That’s why they’re superstars. Every time they get up to bat, they can change the game,” Roberts answered when asked if it is nice having two former MVP winners at the top of the lineup.
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