Prior to missing 14 games due a strained right oblique, Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was sporting a .412 batting average to go with a home run and seven RBIs.
Since returning on Tuesday, the three-year pro has seen his average dip to .286 and has yet to hit another long ball while knocking in just two runs.
This is going to sound outrageously obvious, but the Braves need their big, bad cleanup hitter back.
Freeman can’t stay in the no. 4 spot in the batting order if he isn’t going to produce. Sure, other guys have started slow out of the gate (ie., B.J. Upton, who has yet to find his place in the lineup), but that doesn’t excuse the 23-year-old’s struggles. He’s simply a better hitter than his last seven games would show.
A guy like Upton is known for rough first halves and sizzling second halves. In addition, he is playing on a new team for the first time in his career — and he isn’t known for his high averages anyway — making his early-season offensive shortcomings a little easier to overlook.
Not that the 28-year-old center fielder doesn’t need to get going as well, but I digress.
This is about Freeman, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound power hitter who should be shellacking balls over the fence at a high rate, and who should be splitting gaps and driving in runs at an almost nightly clip.
As one of the leaders of the team, it’s time for Freeman to say that enough is enough.
Some of the balls he hit in tonight’s 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals were scalded, which is an encouraging sign.
Let’s hope Tuesday sees more of the same.
Josh McKinney is an Atlanta Braves writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @SuperJMac32, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
