Dodgers: Doc Compares Freddie Freeman to Rockies Hall-of-Famer
Freddie Freeman has been everything the Dodgers thought he could be, and more. Freddie has been one of the Dodgers best hitters and seems to make at least one clutch play at first on a nightly basis. His bat and his glove are impressive, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed out one of Freeman's skills that goes unnoticed.
The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett captured Roberts' thoughts on how underrated Freddie is as a baserunner.
“He’s a very opportunistic, smart baserunner. He takes pride in it and I think that speaks to him as a teammate. He just really, really cares.”
Doc also agreed to Freeman being compared to Hall-of-Famer Larry Walker. Now, early in his career, Walker registered ten-straight seasons of double-digit steals, but as he aged, he continued to make an impact on the base-paths by leveraging his baseball acumen.
“That’s a fair comp. He runs the bases well, efficient, cutting the turns, smart. That’s a very good comp. And Larry was one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Freeman himself talked about trying to maximize his effectiveness between the bases.
“It’s just kind of how I grew up. I was taught by my dad if you’re going to do something try to do the best you can at it. Baserunning is part of baseball and I want to be the best baseball player I can be. I’m not going to be the best ever. But I try to do the best I can every single day.”
Plunkett also included an incredible statistic as empirical data for just how dangerous Freeman can be on the basepaths.
"Since 2019, Freeman has been one of the best in baseball in at least one measurable aspect of baserunning – going first to third on a single. He’s already done it seven times this season (two off the MLB lead) after doing it 40 times last season and a league-leading 19 times in 2020. Since 2019, he has been successful 98% of the time when he goes first to third."
