Atlanta Braves: Freddie Freeman is the Best 1B in Baseball
Major League Baseball is littered with may superstar first baseman. Some of the greatest players in history, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, have all been first baseman. Here and now, in 2017, Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman is the best in the league.
Recently, I wrote a piece about the Atlanta Braves being a legitimate dark horse candidate in 2017. In this piece, I mentioned that Freddie Freeman is the best first baseman in baseball. People around me who read this piece began to question my opinion, throwing out names of others in attempts to manifest my opinion as wrong. As I have further looked in to it, the fact that Freeman is the best first baseman in baseball has only been solidified.
"Freddie #Freeman hits his 2nd HR of the year, breaking the Braves 15 #game HR drought" #baseball #mlb #sports pic.twitter.com/ALkiuW9g6U
— RussellHodson2 (@RussellHodson2) January 12, 2017
Before we begin analyzing Freeman’s numbers, we must establish who is his competition atop the first base mountain. Obvious inclusions are Anthony Rizzo, Miguel Cabrera, and Paul Goldschmidt – all great players. Joey Votto and Edwin Encarnacion are also in the mix, so we shall consider them. Then, someone with an outside shot is Brandon Belt, so we can pick apart his numbers as well.
More from Call to the Pen
So, how does Freeman fare against these players? Many would be surprised to see how good Freeman is compared to these guys, which is a complete disservice to Freeman’s ability. Out of these seven players, Freddie Freeman leads the way in WAR with a 6.1 mark – according to Fangraphs. Not only is he leading, but he is nearly an entire game better than the next best, Anthony Rizzo (5.2). Not only is he leading the first base pack, he is ninth in all of baseball. Rizzo, the next best, is 21st.
WAR isn’t everything however, yet Freeman’s numbers still do all of the talking. Freeman is the only player out of these seven to hit for the cycle, which admittedly shouldn’t be a driving point but shows his versatility. Freeman ranked third in home runs, second in runs, and third in batting average. Him and Miguel Cabrera are the only two to hit .300 with 30+ home runs, with Joey Votto coming close.
There are gaps in Freeman’s game, I always like to give the opposing argument. Freeman’s strike out rate was the highest of this group, which is concerning. The reason Freeman is overlooked is not only because he is on the struggling Braves, but because he doesn’t have anything necessarily flashy or spectacular about him. Yet, that being said, Freeman still produced a better on base and slugging percentage than Miguel Cabrera, who is often regarded as MLB’s best at first.
Freddie Freeman just seems to be the most versatile. Freeman can hit, fields his position great, and isn’t ridiculously slow like most fist baseman. Outside of Goldschmidt and his insane 32 steals, Freeman proves to be the best base runner out of out the bunch. This is proven by him scoring 102 times despite playing on the second worst team when it comes to runs scored.
Besides the strike out rate, nothing is particular bad in regards to Freeman’s numbers. The other first baseman in the league have these holes, whether it be fielding, base running, or hitting for contact. Freeman sums it all up perfectly, not to mention he is the youngest of the bunch, a month younger than Anthony Rizzo.
However, this is an editorial, and I would love to hear how the rest of the baseball world perceives the first base position. I have created a poll that can be found here, if you would like your say. As always, comments are more than appreciated!
Anyways, that is why Freddie Freeman is the best first baseman in baseball, and the rest of the MLB should be watching out.
