Braves Need 2016 Freddie Freeman Again, Will They Get It?

As many know, Freddie Freeman had a career year in basically every facet.  Let’s breakdown the simpler, baseball card statistics and then the sabermetrics.

Freddie’s 2016 Numbers Ranked for His Career:

AVG – .302 – 2^nd (2013 – .319)
OBP – .400 – 1^st
OPS – .968 – 1^st
H – 178 – 1^st
R – 102 – 1^st
RBI – 91 – 3^rd (2013 – 109)
2B – 43 – T-1^st (2013)
3B – 6 – 1^st
HR – 34 – 1^st
SB – 6 – 1^st
BB – 89 – 2^nd (2014 – 90)
K – 171 – 1^st

And for what it’s worth, Freddie also had the most hit by pitches of his career (10), and the most intentional walks of his career (18), to aid his fantastic walk rate and on base percentage.

These numbers are staggering, and even contradict some classic baseball rhetoric that some still cling too.

• Freddie had the most extra base hits and overall hits he’s ever had, and wasn’t even particularly close to matching his career high RBI total.  Hopefully this will change a few minds on the significance of player value being tied to RBI’s, considering that 37% of Freddie’s 90+ RBI’s were himself.
• It also shows that maybe having a lot of strikeouts isn’t so bad?  Freddie struck out in virtually a quarter of his total trips to the plate, his most since his rookie year, and the highest of his career.

Another fun fact about Freddie’s season is a place in Braves history, as only two other players in franchise history have hit 40+ doubles with 30+ home runs in a single season.  Some know them as Larry and Henry, and their numbers were hung from the Turner Field rafters.

And for the nerdier stats:

Freddie’s 2016 Numbers Ranked for His Career:

fWAR – 6.1 – 1^st
wRC+ – 152 – 1^st
BABIP – .370 – 2^nd (2013 – .371)
ISO – .267 – 1^st
Hard Hit % – 43.5% – 1^st

To supplement these stats, Freddie also hit the most fly balls of his career (kind of obvious), dropped his ground ball output to a career low, and also hit the ball the opposite way more than he ever has, especially recently.