This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio's Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When the Dodgers signed Freddie Freeman to a six-year, $162 million deal this offseason, they knew the All-Star first baseman was a home run acquisition. He’s one of the best players in baseball and worth the money -- just look at the back of his baseball card.

What even the Dodgers didn’t realize was just how good Freeman actually is. Through 39 games, Freeman has been even better than advertised for L.A.

“He’s obnoxiously good,” said Dodgers broadcaster and former MLB pitcher Dontrelle Willis during a recent broadcast. “And I mean that with the utmost respect.”

The Dodgers have respected Freeman for over a decade, but now they get to watch him work on a daily basis. At the plate, Freeman leads the team in batting average (.311), on-base percentage (.402), OPS (.882) and bWAR (1.6). His Statcast numbers back up Freeman’s hot start and suggest that there could be even better days ahead for the former National League MVP.

His average exit velocity is right in line from last year at 91.6 mph (91.4 mph last year), ranking him in the 88th percentile in the Majors. His expected batting average is in the 96th percentile. And he just doesn’t swing and miss -- particularly out of the zone -- coming into Sunday’s game ranking in the 91st percentile in whiff percentage.

“It's been amazing,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Like I've said time and time again, I've never seen a player that just doesn't give away at-bats, doesn't take a play off. He impacts the game on defense, on the bases, in the batter's box, in the clubhouse. I knew he was a great ballplayer, but I sold him short."

Freeman’s ability to hit to all parts of the field is a big reason for his success. He had reached base in 20 consecutive games prior to Saturday’s 0-for-5 effort and he seems to do so in different ways each night. He’ll go the other way when he gets to two strikes, but he’ll also turn on a pitch when he’s ahead in the count.

That mentality has trickled down to the rest of the lineup, something that has been lacking for years. It’s yet another underrated part of how impactful Freeman’s signing has been. Freeman goes through his drills before each game. It’s a routine he developed with Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer in 2016. This season, Gavin Lux and Cody Bellinger stood and watched Freeman and immediately knew they wanted to give it a shot.

“He’s just very in tune with taking what the defense gives you,” Roberts said. “Our guys, Freddie talks about it a lot, there’s going to be slug in there, but there’s still a huge value in getting a base hit and driving in a run.”

Freeman isn’t necessarily the loudest person in the room. His focus is usually on his routine and getting himself ready to play each game (he’s the only Dodgers player to play every game this season), but right now, his ability at the plate has been heard loud and clear.

“He’s been one of the best hitters in the game for a while,” Lux said. “So being a left-handed hitter and seeing what he does, obviously I looked up to him a little bit. Just getting to be his teammate now and picking his brain is pretty cool.”