There was a time when the Atlanta Braves would have loved to see Freddie Freeman regain his hitting stride ahead of a playoff game at Truist Park.
We’re a long way removed from 2021, when Freeman helped end the Braves’ nearly 30-year title drought. He’s already in his fifth season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tuesday night marks his return to Atlanta as a playoff opponent — and yes, it really has been that long since he left for the West Coast.
If this past weekend foreshadowed what’s to come, then the NL East-winning Braves caught Freeman at the wrong time. He went 3-for-7 with a home run and a walk in the NLDS’ first two games, and he finally looks healthy after a lingering right knee injury.
Freddie Freeman is warming up at the worst possible time for Braves fans
The 36-year-old Freeman is arguably among the most underappreciated players of his generation, at least regarding the regular season. Baseball fans, especially those in New York and Houston, are well aware of his playoff heroics.
Freeman’s Game 2 home run marked his 17th postseason long ball, and 13 have either tied the game or given his team the lead. Only Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, who has 14 such home runs, ranks higher in playoff history.
We acknowledge that eight plate appearances typically aren’t a significant sample size, but keep in mind Freeman hadn’t recorded an extra-base hit since Sept. 2 and only managed a .483 OPS down the stretch. Luckily for the Dodgers, they’d all but clinched the NL West by the start of August, so they had no issues surviving both his and Shohei Ohtani’s late-season struggles.
“I feel good, so I think we can be done with those questions,” Freeman told reporters. “I’ve had a good work week, and obviously the first couple games have been good, so hopefully I can carry it into the road series.”
Now is the time for Freeman to reiterate why he’s among the most reliable postseason players in baseball’s 150-year history. There’s only so much the rest of the Dodgers’ offense can do without Ohtani performing anywhere close to his standard level.
Freddie Freeman's warm Atlanta receptions are a thing of the past
Braves fans have kept on loving Freeman all these years, largely blaming their own front office for letting him walk in free agency (despite the fact that the player said front office acquired to replace him at first base, Matt Olson, has been pretty darn good in his own right). Even as recently as this summer, the future Hall of Famer returned to Truist Park to cheers from his former home crowd.
Now, though? It feels as though something's shifted. The Braves have faced Freeman plenty over the last few years, but never in the postseason — until now. Maybe it's just October juices flowing, or maybe heightened stakes are what it took for Atlanta to really internalize that their one-time face of the franchise chose to sign with a chief National League rival. Whatever the case, this is the first time where it feels like the Braves' rooting interests are truly in conflict with fans' feelings for Freeman as a person and a player.
Translation? Don’t expect to see the Atlanta faithful the Pete Alonso treatment over the coming days. Freeman may well still have his No. 5 retired by the Braves one day. But all it takes is one swing against your team with a potential World Series run on the line to really drive home that it's not 2021 anymore. How Freeman responds to that much chillier reception will be fascinating to watch.
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