Freddie Freeman isn’t really sure where the change came from.
He just knew that, after a slow start to the season, something needed to be done.
A week ago, the former MVP was batting more than 40 points below his typical .300 standard.
So, during the Dodgers’ recent road trip in Houston, he started toying around with a new stance in the box.
He turned his front foot inward, à la Corey Seager. He focused on keeping his front hip from flying open, in an effort to stay squared up longer.
His goal was to drive the ball on a line to left field again –– and not just slap it –– the way he’s done his whole 17-year career.
“And, you know,” he said with a smile Friday night, while reflecting on what have been almost immediately improved results, “obviously, it’s worked.”
Indeed, since tweaking his stance and resetting his approach, the 36-year-old slugger has suddenly started to look more like the Freeman of old.
He went 4-for-11 in this week’s Houston series, including back-to-back games with a double for the first time since April 15-17. Then, in Friday’s series-opener against the Atlanta Braves, he jumped on a center-cut fastball from former Cy Young winner Chris Sale to hit his first home run since April 6.
“To put a swing (on it) like that,” he said, “I haven’t done that in a month.”
Each of Freeman’s recent extra-base hits were encouragingly launched the other way to left field.
Each one also restored some confidence in his swing mechanics, something even the nine-time All-Star acknowledged he was previously searching for.
“I was just in Houston one day, in the morning, and I was like, ‘You know, I can’t keep pushing balls to left field,’” Freeman said. “I’ve always done little tweaks mentally, externally. I’ve always done like a, hip in. And this time, I just did a foot turn in, to do the same thing.”
The fact that Freeman was already looking for changes a month into the season was a reminder of the challenges he faces at this point of his career.
It was just this spring, remember, he said his swing felt as good as he could recall in recent years. And over his first 22 games, he was hitting .299, slugging over .500, and only bemoaning a flurry of deep fly balls that died at the warning track.
But then, during a homestand over the final week of April, Freeman seemed to lose his feel at the plate. He endured a 3-for-25 slump. He felt he was late trying to catch up to fastballs. And even when he did make contact, he wasn’t lasering line drives the way he’s long been accustomed.
“I would’ve fixed it by now if I knew (what was wrong),” he said during that stretch.
Thus, he decided to mix things up –– not only by adapting his foot position, but also taking three-straight days of typically rare on-field pregame batting practice.
“It’s hard for him to try different things,” manager Dave Roberts quipped when asked about Freeman’s tweak. “But he’s a smart player and understands that at some point in a career, you’ve got to make some adjustments. So it’s good for me to see him kind of change some things, whether it be a little bit of a toe in or change the routine up a little bit. I think that’s important. That’s a good thing.”
Technically, Freeman’s statistical turnaround predates his new foot position. During last weekend’s series in St. Louis, he went 5-for-13 to start what is now a seven-game hitting streak.
But even then, he said he didn’t feel confident in his mechanics. So much so, he purposely tried to cheat on swings to time up velocity.
“That’s the complete opposite of what I’ve done my whole career,” he said. “I was getting beat on heaters. So I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to switch this completely up and try and hit this ball out in front.’”
His new changes, he hopes, will help him maintain something more permanent moving forward.
He’s not only back to hitting the ball, but doing so in the way he wants.
“I’m making better swing decisions. My hip is in a little bit longer. I can let the ball travel longer, too. So there’s a lot more to it,” he said. “Even my misses are better. So I’m just trending in the right direction. To say it’s my foot turning in, I mean, obviously that’s helped a lot.”
