Not quite the stove being lit… and also, not that Freeman. Sorry.
A veteran of parts of five major league seasons, including three with the team that drafted him (Cleveland) and his most recent two with the Rockies, Freeman hasn’t really found his footing yet. He’s
played all over the diamond — every position other than pitcher and catcher so far in his career — but hasn’t really done anything on either side of the ball. He’s played both infield and outfield at a below-average rate, and his career batting line includes a .296 wOBA and .312 xwOBA. Put those together and he’s been worth -1.3 fWAR in 1,353 PAs, which really isn’t fun for anyone.
So, this is more a plug-and-play depth at Gwinnett move rather than anything else, but someone’s gotta play at Gwinnett and be around in case Luke Williams and Kyle Farmer aren’t, and it looks like the 28-year-old Freeman is a contender to fill that roster spot of dubious repute.
Profile-wise, you can kind of see why the Braves might want to work with Freeman, even if he isn’t expected to amount with anything. He has a ton of tools — he was fast earlier in his career, and has a huge throwing arm. He’s also very good at making contact, but it comes with a hyper-slap approach that prevents him from generating any power. He also, oddly, has some truly awful reactions and an inability to consistently make defensive plays, which is like the opposite of what you want from a utility guy. Maybe some of those things can be fixed.
In any case, he’s the Braves’ problem-and/or-thing-to-work-on now.
