It’s not a surprise that first baseman Freddie Freeman was the MVP of the Atlanta Braves through the first month of the season.
With all of the talk about Ronald Acuna Jr. coming into the season for the Atlanta Braves, Mr. Consistency himself — Freddie Freeman — just continued to do what he always does.
He’s among the top three in just about every category for the Atlanta Braves with 23 runs scored, 33 hits, 7 doubles, 5 home runs, 18 RBI, 21 walks, a .300 average, a .421 OBP, a .500 SLG, and an OPS of .921.
Freeman is top 10 in all of baseball with that on-base percentage as he continues to be patient at the plate and takes his walks knowing Acuna is behind him.
The 20-year-old started the season by reaching base in 27 straight games, which tied the Atlanta Braves franchise record.
He’s just a model of consistency, and no matter what the outside media tries to say, he’s still the leader of this team.
Freddie Freeman is LOCKED in.
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) April 28, 2019
Three home runs in the past four games for #MVFree. pic.twitter.com/YVxbqG4Ylz
What makes Freddie so special is that he doesn’t care if there is a righty or lefty on the mound. This season he is hitting .333 against lefties and .286 against righties with an identical .421 OBP against both.
And as much as the Atlanta Braves have struggled with runners in scoring position over the first month of the season, Freeman is hitting .308 with a .400 OBP in such situations.
It really is a pleasure to watch Freeman play every day in a Braves uniform. And I know Acuna will probably pass him at some point as the best player on this team, but I hope people never take the first baseman for granted.
And not only is Freeman raking at the plate, but he also gives Gold Glove effort on defense every night and saves our infielders from throwing errors on the regular.
There were a lot of solid offensive performers in April, but none could compete with the all-around game that Freeman has.
Josh Donaldson had his moments and Nick Markakis continues to a consistent hitter.
Dansby Swanson would have been second in the Braves MVP vote for April though as I thought he carried the team early on. And if not for some bad luck his numbers would look much better.
He has a hard-contact rate of nearly 50 percent, but he seems to always hit it right at somebody.
Still, he finished April hitting .260 with 5 home runs and a team-high 22 RBI.
But Freddie Freeman is still the man for the Atlanta Braves, and he is the team’s MVP through the month of April.