2018 Dodgers Player Reviews: David Freese
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired David Freese at the August wavier trade deadline.
The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired third baseman David Freese in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for minor league infielder Jesus Manuel Valdez.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 1, 2018
With a .385 average and 9 RBI in 19 games, Freese made an immediate impact with the Dodgers in the final month of the regular season. And he carried that momentum into the postseason.
Offense
The 10-year veteran has a lifetime batting average of .275, along with a .764 OPS and 102 home runs.
No one will ever be able to live up to the title of “Mr. October”, but David Freese has proven more than his worth of clutch hitting in postseason baseball. His most memorable moment possibly coming in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Freese hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to send the series to a Game 7, and an eventual 11th World Series title for the Cards.
On This Date: David Freese's walk-off home run forced a Game 7 and helped the Cardinals win the 2011 World Series. pic.twitter.com/sDCAFrMzan
— ESPN (@espn) October 27, 2018
The Dodgers acquired Freese on the final day in August in hopes that he could bring some of that clutch hitting to LA for October. He didn’t disappoint.
| Year | Tm | Series | Opp | Rslt | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | TB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | LAD | NLDS | ATL | W | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .333 | .500 | .833 | 1 |
| 2018 | LAD | NLCS | MIL | W | 6 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .333 | .750 | 1.083 | 6 |
| 2018 | LAD | WS | BOS | L | 5 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .417 | .500 | .833 | 1.333 | 10 |
Freese appeared in 14 games in the 2018 postseason for the Dodgers. He reached base 17 times, hit a home run in both the NLCS and World Series, and knocked in 6 runs while doing so.
DAVID FREESE LEADS IT OFF WITH A HOMER ? pic.twitter.com/ZbggaM76dx
— Baseball King (@BasebaIlKing) October 29, 2018
Defense
In David Freese’s ten years as a professional baseball player, he has appeared at third base in 914 games compared to only 99 games on first base. As his career progresses and the older he gets, the more we will see Freese at first base. Believe it or not, David has also played two other positions besides first and third. He has played two games at second base and one game behind the plate as catcher.
Freese played 17 games in the field this season with the Dodgers and committed just two errors. Those 17 game include 14 games at first base and 3 games at third base. The veteran posted 52 innings as a first basemen in the 2018 postseason with the Dodgers without committing an error.
| Rk | Year | Series | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | BF | Inn | PO | A | E | Ch | DP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018 | NLDS g3 | Oct 7 | LAD | @ | ATL | L,5-6 | GS | 11 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | 2018 | NLCS g1 | Oct 12 | LAD | @ | MIL | L,5-6 | GS | 15 | 3.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | 2018 | NLCS g2 | Oct 13 | LAD | @ | MIL | W,4-3 | GS | 26 | 6.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | 2018 | NLCS g3 | Oct 15 | LAD | MIL | L,0-4 | GF | 4 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 2018 | NLCS g4 | Oct 16 | LAD | MIL | W,2-1 | GS | 8 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 2018 | NLCS g5 | Oct 17 | LAD | MIL | W,5-2 | GS | 13 | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 7 | 2018 | NLCS g6 | Oct 19 | LAD | @ | MIL | L,2-7 | GS | 21 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | 2018 | WS g1 | Oct 23 | LAD | @ | BOS | L,4-8 | GS | 28 | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 9 | 2018 | WS g2 | Oct 24 | LAD | @ | BOS | L,2-4 | GS | 30 | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | 2018 | WS g3 | Oct 26 | LAD | BOS | W,3-2 | GF | 15 | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| 11 | 2018 | WS g4 | Oct 27 | LAD | BOS | L,6-9 | GS | 22 | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 12 | 2018 | WS g5 | Oct 28 | LAD | BOS | L,1-5 | GS | 31 | 8.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| 12gm | 52.0 | 46 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 3 |
Freese logged 12 of the 16 games in the 2018 playoffs for the Dodgers in the field and has always been known as a great defensive player, whether it be at third or first base.
Final Thoughts
David Freese is a seasoned vet and has shown the Dodgers that he can still play at a high level. Following the unfortunate ending of the Dodgers 2018 season, the team announced David Freese will return to the team in 2019. The deal is for one-year, $4.5 million.
I can see Freese turning into a Chase Utley type of deal, where he plays the next season out and possibly thinks about a future in coaching after his career is done. Freese may not be an every day kind of guy, but he’ll get his fair share of appearances. David Freese can be a great clubhouse guy and mentor to the younger guys in the organization.
2018 Dodgers Player Reviews: Ryan Madson
Freese was foolishly pulled after playing one or two innings in several postseason games. In one game at Milwaukee, he had homered and doubled, driving in all of the Dodgers’ runs to that point. But no, they had to go with the lefty-righty thing. Along with swinging for the fences every AB and ridiculous pitching decisions (influenced by the front office), such moves sunk the Dodgers. I hope management has learned from failures in the WS the last two years.