Atlanta Braves Season Review: Freddie Freeman’s MVP Season

In a year filled with difficulties and uncertainty, Freddie Freeman showed that he is still the face of the Atlanta Braves.

Since debuting with the Atlanta Braves in 2010, Freddie Freeman has done nothing but produce. 2020 was no different.

2020 got off to a rocky start for Freddie Freeman as he battled Covid-19 and even said he was praying, “please don’t take me.”

While Freddie Freeman battled to get game ready in a hurry after his illness, the effects from the virus were apparent. Through his first thirteen games, Freeman was batting .190/.346/.310/.656 with only one home run.

Thankfully, Freddie Freeman is an elite baseball player. Over his last fourty-seven games, he batted .378/.490/.721/1.211 with 12 home runs, 46 RBIs, and 41 runs.

He finished the season batting .341/.462/.640/1.102 with 13 home runs, 53 RBIs, and 51 runs. He accumulated a 3.4 fWAR (4.0 fWAR over 158 games in 2019) and a career high wrc+ (187).

If Freddie Freeman kept this pace over the course of a normal 162 game season, he would have had approximately 197 hits, 35 home runs, 143 RBIs, 137 runs, 121 walks, and slightly less than 100 strikeouts (99.9 according to the current pace).

Now, he may not reach those numbers in a regular 162 game season, but it shows how phenomenal his 60-game 2020 season was.

Let’s take a deeper look into what propelled Freddie Freeman into having arguably his best season as a professional baseball player.

Freeman’s plate discipline was outstanding in 2020. He dropped his strikeout rate from 18.4% to 14.1% and raised his walk rate from 12.6% to 17.2%.

Not only was Freddie more selective at the plate, but he was making better contact on his swings this season. His barrel percentage rose from12.5% to 14.7% which lead to an increase in hard-hit rate (42.5% to 54.2%) and average exit velocity (89.8 to 92.4).

In short, Freddie Freeman was really good.

Good enough that he won the National League Outstanding Player and Player of the Year awards that were voted on by his peers.

Winning these awards show just how universally loved Freddie Freeman is among the baseball community.

Freddie Freeman also was the recipient of Baseball America’s Player of the Year award and the Baseball Digest/Ebay Player of the Year award.

It also may be foreshadowing another award for Freddie Freeman come November 12th.

This should benefit Freeman this off-season as it looks like a contract extension is likely. Having an MVP award to your name will probably make it a little easier when negotiating a new contract.