Freddie Freeman has been on the disabled list since mid-May, and apparently his time on the shelf has triggered something of a reawakening in him.
The Atlanta Braves slugger told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to play third base for the team upon his return from injury.
“[My] mindset is to return as a third baseman,” said Freeman, per ESPN. “I mentioned it and said I’d be willing to move over to third base to accommodate Matt [Adams], who’s been pretty spectacular for us. It really happened yesterday when I was walking to the field.
“I’m completely on board with it, want to do it,” he added. “Gotta keep Matt’s bat in the lineup, and I’ll do anything to win. So this is what we came to.”
Freeman has been sidelined since breaking his left wrist on May 17. The injury prompted the Braves to acquire Adams in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals as a fill-in. Adams has been phenomenal for them since, batting .296/.349/.635 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs in just 29 games.
As for Freeman, he has been a first baseman for his entire eight-season MLB career and has played 935 of his 946 career games at first. ESPN also notes that he hasn’t played third base since 2007 when he was a 17-year-old in the rookie Gulf Coast League. But the 32-38 Braves, currently a surprising second in the NL East, do indeed need to find a way to keep Adams’ bat in the lineup, and it sounds like the always-flexible Freeman is here for it.
