{"id":591021,"date":"2026-02-24T22:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/591021\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T22:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:58:44","slug":"why-a-300-batting-average-matters-to-dodgers-freddie-freeman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/591021\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a .300 batting average matters to Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For the first time since he grounded out to end the 11th inning in Game 7 of the World Series, Freddie Freeman<\/a> stepped into the batter\u2019s box in the first inning Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch. Freeman was met with cheers by the thousands of Dodgers<\/a> fans in attendance.<\/p>\n

After popping out to third in his first at-bat, Freeman laced a double to left center to drive in two runs in the third inning before he was lifted from the Dodgers\u2019 11-3 victory. Freeman, who last season battled the lingering effects of a right ankle injury he suffered late in the 2024 season, said having a more typical offseason was crucial.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been in a good spot since I started hitting this offseason,\u201d Freeman said of his swing. \u201cNice to be able to hit a ball to left center already, that\u2019s a good sign. … I hadn\u2019t swung a bat till a day before fanfest last year. A normal offseason [this year] definitely helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

While still an All-Star and a recipient of NL MVP votes, the 36-year-old Freeman has seen a slight decline in production over the last two seasons, compared to his first two with the Dodgers. Freeman posted on-base percentages of .407 and .410, while raking a league-leading 47 and 59 doubles, respectively, in 2022 and 2023. His OBP dropped to .378 in 2024, and .367 in 2025. <\/p>\n

But for Freeman, it is his contact numbers that have been a thorn in his side all offseason.<\/p>\n

Freeman\u2019s .295 batting average was the third-best in the National League, but it still was not good enough for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a 3 at the start of my batting average last year, and that irks me,\u201d Freeman said last week. \u201cThat\u2019s my goal always, to hit .300. I like hits. I\u2019m a hitter. Three at the front of a batting average means a lot to me. I know batting average and those kinds of things don\u2019t mean a lot to a lot of people these days, but it does to me. If you hit .300, it means you\u2019re on base a lot, and you\u2019re scoring runs for your team, so that\u2019s the goal, .300 again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman landed on the injured list at the start of April after he aggravated his surgically repaired right ankle, causing him to miss nine games, and setting the tone for a season in which he never felt quite right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was taping my ankle till about August\u201d, Freeman said. \u201cIt was never really in a good spot last year. There was a lot of treatment, and I think I played all right for that, and we won again, so I\u2019m really looking forward this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

One area in which Freeman thinks he can improve upon from last year is his defense. A former Gold Glover, Freeman rated as a minus fielder in both defensive runs saved (minus-7) and outs above average (minus-6) metrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t like the way I played defense last year and I thought it was just because I wasn\u2019t mobile enough,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cSo, that\u2019s a big, big goal of mine, to play better at first this year, get to more balls, be able to cover more things. So, that\u2019s going to be a key for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> is optimistic about the season he believes his veteran first baseman will have in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he takes such good care of himself,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI think that age is an easy one to point to, but I really believe that he\u2019s been dinged up for two years. Right now, today, it\u2019s as good as I\u2019ve seen his swing over the course of a week sample, than I have in two years. So, he\u2019s in a good spot physically, mechanically. So, if we can keep him healthy, I just don\u2019t see why he can\u2019t have the year that he expects, and with that, with everything that he went through the last couple years, he was still very productive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman said last week he hopes to play four more years, through his age-40 season, which would be his 20th as a big leaguer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that fourth year, I turn 40,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cFour is just a number that\u2019s floated. Is it less? Is it more? I don\u2019t know, but that\u2019s kind of just where I\u2019m at. I feel good right now, so that was just floated because that would be an even 20 years, I\u2019ll be 40. I got a family that I would like to go home to. I do love this game; I love playing it, but for me, if I can do four, that would be 20 years. I think that\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Etc.<\/p>\n

After major shoulder surgery in 2024 that forced him to miss all of last season, right-hander Gavin Stone made his return to the mound a smooth one, pitching a scoreless first inning and striking out two.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome,\u201d said Stone, who last pitched for the Dodgers on Aug. 31, 2024. \u201cDefinitely a lot of hard work over the previous year. Rehab was a grind, but it\u2019s good to be back out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For the first time since he grounded out to end the 11th inning in Game 7 of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,77154,190,39,77155,815,14,24277,76632,1165,4332,4333,20515,5954,774,57,3224,4331,12043,4,77153,3215,1373,1319],"class_list":["post-591021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-batting-average-matter","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-fanfest-last-year","tag-freddie-freeman","tag-game","tag-goal","tag-good-spot","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-last-season","tag-last-week","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-lot","tag-mlb","tag-normal-offseason","tag-run","tag-start","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116128093858542680","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}