Freeman's bonus is running bases
Now that he gets to see him play every day, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says he has learned something about Freddie Freeman.
“I knew he was a great ballplayer,” Roberts said. “But I sold him short.”
Freeman is even better than he realized, Roberts said, citing Freeman's daily focus — he “just doesn't give away at-bats, doesn't take a play off.”
Freeman's three Silver Sluggers and one Gold Glove are evidence of that. He doesn't have any hardware, though, for another elite-level skill — his baserunning.
“He's a very opportunistic, smart base runner,” Roberts said. “He takes pride in it and I think that speaks to him as a teammate. He just really, really cares.”
Offered a comparison to Hall of Famer Larry Walker, Roberts agreed. Like Freeman, Walker was not exceptionally fast but ran the bases with efficiency and well-timed aggressiveness.
“That's a fair comp,” Roberts said. “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 (who played for Team Canada in the WBC with Walker as his hitting coach) said his base-running acumen is largely selftaught.
“I've always wanted to be the best baseball player I could be and base-running is one aspect of that,” said Freeman, who is 3 for 3 on stolen base attempts this year.
“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. Base-running 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.”
Since 2019, Freeman has been one of the best in baseball in at least one measurable aspect of base-running — 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. Freeman said experience has made him a better base runner, making him adept at reading outfield defenses and batted balls.
“I think a big part for me is playing the infield. I can read balls off the bat. That helps,” he said. “If you watch me, I know where all the outfielders are playing. Every pitch I look because in today's game every pitch they're changing. I just try to pay attention to the finer things in this game.”
If that helps his decisionmaking on the bases, there is another important element as well.
“A lot of it is hustle,” he said.
“I just like to try and give everything I possibly can every single night. Because one day it's going to be over. That's just how I view things.”
Bellinger out
Roberts had planned to give right fielder Mookie Betts the day off on Tuesday night and center fielder Cody Bellinger today off. That changed when Bellinger started feeling ill, Roberts said.
“Cody just woke up not feeling well,” Roberts said. “So I just felt, physically, if he doesn't feel well, I wanted to give him a day to recover. I was going to give Mookie obviously today off, but I convinced him to play today and he'll be down tomorrow regardless.”
Roberts did not specify what Bellinger's symptoms were but he said Bellinger had not taken a test for COVID and hadn't reached a point where MLB's health and safety protocols would require it.
“I don't think we're there yet,” Roberts said. “I think we're all just trying to let him rest and kind of see where it takes us.”
Two Dodgers, pitchers David Price and Mitch White, spent time on the injured list after testing positive for COVID in late April. The broadcast crew did not travel with the team to Philadelphia or Washington after several positive tests.