Is Freddie Freeman in a Slump?

The Atlanta Braves have struggled to score runs during the first four games of their West Coast road trip.  Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants are two outstanding ball clubs, but the 2015 Atlanta Braves’ offense has been better than its recent performances.  Six runs in four games is so 2014!  But where do we begin in understanding in the Braves’ recent offensive woes?  Let’s start with the face of the franchise, All-Star 1B Freddie Freeman.

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It hurts very much to write this but I think Freddie Freeman is definitely in the midst of a slump.  Since leaving Cincinnati, Freeman has gone 10-50 (.200 Avg.) at the plate with just two extra base hits, both doubles.  In a Braves lineup that rarely strikes out for hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, Freeman has averaged a strikeout per game played (47 games, 47 K’s).  We’re just not seeing the gap doubles or opposite field singles that we have grown accustomed to.

When Freeman is in the box, the other team’s defensive alignment plays him as a pull-only hitter.  In his first four-plus seasons with the Braves, I’ve never thought of Freeman as a hitter that is reluctant to go to the opposite field.  His ability to drive the ball to all parts of the field with authority has made him my favorite player on the team since 2012.  But he just keeps hitting grounders into the shift and the Braves offense has struggled to score runs because of it.

What perhaps is most interesting is that Nick Markakis has done such a great job of protecting Freeman in the Braves’ batting order.  Markakis is hitting .306 with a fantastic OBP of .397.  While he doesn’t have the power of a typical cleanup hitter, Nick has hit .319 (15-47) over the same 13-game stretch as Freeman.

I’m not petrified by Freeman’s offensive performance these last two weeks because we all can assume that he will return to All-Star form here shortly.  But it has become clear that if Freeman is not hitting gap doubles or singles to the opposite field, opposing team’s will use a heavy shift on him to limit the Braves’ offensive production.  Either Freddie needs to start beating the shift or some other Brave needs to start driving in runs consistently or Atlanta will have to win a lot of pitcher’s duel to stay around .500.