It's Award Season; The Atlanta Braves Have a MVP Candidate on Their Hands
Jul 31, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Jim Johnson (53) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) react after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Phillies 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The Atlanta Braves have a MVP candidate on their hands, and Freddie Freeman is the Braves MVP by far. Whether he wins it for the league another question, but he has a strong case.
Atlanta Braves first baseman, Freddie Freeman is having an MVP caliber season. He’s easily the team MVP, but he’ll be hard pressed to take the league crown. And that a shame.
It’s been a long season for the Braves, we know this. We have endured some hard knocks but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter.
The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) has released its ballots for end of the year award voting. As far as I know, within the site, Ben and I have the privilege of voting on these awards.
They don’t mean much in the grand scheme, but it’s cool to see how we as a collective whole, match up with the pro writers whose votes do count.
I’ll save you the suspense. I have Freddie fourth on my ballot, but that’s a testament to the other senior circuit guys who have had unbelievable seasons.
My top 3 NL MVP votes went to Kris Bryant, Nolan Arenado, and Corey Seager.
The rest of my votes for the National League hardware went to Max Scherzer for CY Young, Corey Seager for NL ROY, Joe Maddon for NL MOY, and Kenley Jansen for NL Reliever.
It’s hard to argue Bryant winning the MVP voting. But Freeman has made a bad team look better than they have shown this year.
Looking at Freeman’s year in numbers is very impressive.
Aug 31, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves left fielder Matt Kemp (27) hits a sacrifice fly scoring third baseman Adonis Garcia (not pictured) as San Diego Padres catcher Derek Norris (3) is shown on the play in the eighth inning of their game at Turner Field. The Braves won 8-1. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
The Kemp Effect
The addition of Matt Kemp has only propelled Freeman. We’ve all seen the offensive numbers for Atlanta since his addition, and no one has reaped the benefits of this more than Freeman.
Overall WAR for Freeman is 5.5, good for 6th for all players, including pitchers. For all position players, his 5.5 is good for 4th. His oWAR of 4.8 also has him in 4th. Freeman’s OBP of .393 is 4th behind Votto, Goldschmidt, and LeMahieu.
He is 5th in slugging (.558), 4th in OPS (.951), 7th in runs scored with 91, and sits at 10th with 159 hits. 300 total bases which is 4th, 39 doubles, 10th in triples … yes, Freddie Freeman ranks in the triples category with 6.
His 30 home runs ties him with Cespedes and Duvall for 5th. He has created 152 runs, adjusted batting runs of 44 is 2nd best, and his 75 extra base hits is tied for first with Murphy.
Jun 6, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of Golden Glove awards of Los Angeles Dodgers players at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The American League Ballot and Final Thought
The rest of my ballot, just to put it out there goes like so:
These votes don’t count towards the actual awarding of individual awards for the season. However, it’s still fun to be a part of the process. Someday, hopefully soon, our votes will count for something.
Freddie’s numbers are remarkable this season. Freddie has seemingly gotten more pitches to hit, has been more consistent with runners on, and has raised his game to another level.
It would appear that Freeman is finally tapping into his potential we all knew he had. Carrying this over to 2017 could solidify him as the perennial All-Star and MVP candidate we knew he could … err … should be.
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