On Atlanta Braves moving Freddie Freeman: this is baseball

No position on a baseball diamond is easy to play. Certainly, some are harder than others, and still some are comparable. Some players only have the ability to play one. Freddie Freeman isn’t one of them.

The Atlanta Braves’ new third baseman isn’t a multi-position player because the Front Office decided to let him be one. Freddie Freeman is because he can. And because the game he plays allows him to be.

We all love to believe the game is incredibly complex. That an undesirable athlete of another sport can’t just pick up a bat after ten years and find some success. That a well-established, MVP-caliber first baseman cannot simply walk to the other infield corner and be fine.

What would that say of our pastime? What sort of message would that send to the less-affluent baseball viewers or those tuning in to the brief, summarized ESPN headlines before their commute? It enhances the product if only a select few can truly be decent at it after years of hard work.

Agreed, these instances set up a poor image in some respects. But who cares? You love the game or you don’t. And when it comes to Freddie Freeman moving off first to accommodate Matt Adams?  Why is this met with so much rejection?

Simply Experience

Freddie Freeman is a bona fide ball player, through and through, and baseball is a simple game all the same. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you’re delayed three hours for no reason.

The game thrives on fundamentals. No matter how complex you wish to get, it starts and ends with these. Freeman, being an outstanding defensive first baseman, has the necessary skills to competently man the hot corner.

He’s also got experience. It was a while ago, but it’s experience. He was a third baseman in high school, most of us are aware. This was his primary position throughout his prep days. He also played 48.1 innings there in the Gulf Coast League as a young gun. So why is he supposedly destined to fail?

One of the first points a non-believer makes is quickness and arm strength. A hard hit, pulled baseball doesn’t wait for a reaction from whoever is in the way. Why do we act like this doesn’t happen at first base too?

On top of the reaction time, a third baseman needs a cannon to handle the infield’s longest throw. Freddie checks that box too.

He pitched and patrolled the outfield part time at El Modena High. In an interview with Atlanta Braves scout Tom Battista, Bill Shanks of The Telegraph was told that young Freeman “would walk over from third base and close games at 91-94 mph like Huston Street.”  His MLB.com prospect profile touted his above-average arm.

Thinking About It

A second question to address is the mental aspect of the position.

Situational awareness: backing up throws, intercepting his outfield’s mail at the mound, checking the runner at second base and working in accordance to his internal clock- knowing how much time he has to work with when the ball is his. These are much the same anywhere on the dirt, now just more frequent at this white square than the old one.

His first chance at third was quite telling of his abilities. He can trap the ball in his glove as any big-leaguer should. He kept his body in control on a play in unfamiliar territory, with unfamiliar angles and direction.

Freeman knew he had the time to check the runner at second base, get a four-seam grip and hit Matt Adams at the letters from about as far as a third baseman would typically have too. And Freeman did it all in just a couple hesitation-free shuffle-steps.

The above video’s title calls the play “smooth.” It was. Perhaps his throwing motion is a bit long in the play and for the position, but it’s not like the experiment hinges entirely on that.

Pointing out that players spend years in the minor leagues getting better at a position isn’t entirely true.

The minor leagues are as much about muscle memory and consistency, softening and quickening the hands, exactness of footwork (which is very similar, first and third), and testing and learning your absolute physical and mental limits as it is getting savvy at your assigned post’s duties. Fundamentals.

Think About Where We Were

Franchise player status doesn’t change the situation. It does not matter who it is being moved. Certainly, Atlanta can entertain a 157 OPS+ (2016) hitter with defense falling a tad short (probably worst case) of a 91 OPS+ hitter in Adonis Garcia, who posted a -7 DRS last year. Chris Johnson owned a -7 DRS in 2013 and -13 in 2014.

Fans have now seen him make three starts at third base since his return and nothing ugly has come up yet. He hasn’t cost any runs or committed any errors. Not to say the move is a success, but there’s no indication of the opposite to date.

Ron Washington, Terry Pendleton, and Chipper Jones are all on board. These three guys offer the best sort of support group a player could wish for in this sort of move.

Let’s not get so caught up in the various metrics we have at our disposal to forget the game isn’t set up in a way in which one can only play one spot on the field. Let’s not get too caught up in emotional attachment to familiarity. This is an experiment, and a fun one at that.

Maybe this is all wrong and he proves in a couple weeks it’s a bad idea to play him there. At least we got to see it and now we know. Isn’t that the point in all this?

In a nutshell, we don’t throw money and time at the Atlanta Braves because we want to see wins. We do it because we want entertainment. If it was about wins then nobody would know what’s happened the last 3 years. We all need an outlet, and we’ve chosen this. This is baseball.

Next: On the Block

Wins are what Freddie truly wants. He and the Front Office both see this as a way to grab a few more. In the end, his desire to give this a shot should be enough for us to be on board. The pros outweigh the cons here. Feel free to comment with a point for or against this truly being a bad idea.