ATLANTA -- As Freddie Freeman continues to produced incredible statistics through this season's first three weeks, the potential value of his contributions has been diminished by the lack of consistent production created within the first two spots of the Braves' lineup.
When Freeman drilled a mammoth solo homer during the sixth inning of Friday night's 4-3 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, he found himself with seven homers and a total of just nine RBIs. Six of his seven homers have been solo shots and he has totaled just four at-bats with a runner in scoring position over this season's first 16 games.
Freeman has actually tallied just three of those at-bats with runners in scoring position as he has slashed .486/.578/1.162 over his past 11 games.
"I'm not worried about that at all," Freeman said. "They're going to start hitting and hopefully, I'm going to continue to hit. Hopefully, they don't start hitting and I stop hitting. No one is worried. I'm not worried. I know I only have three or four at-bats with runners in scoring position, but I know that's going to change. Hopefully, when those opportunities come I'm going to take advantage of them."
Dating back to 1920, Freeman joins Gary Sheffield (1996), Eddie Yost (1959), Garrett Jones (2009) and James Dozier (2014) as the only players to record nine RBIs or fewer through their first seven home runs of a season. Sheffield holds this dubious record as he drove in just eight runs within this span.
Braves manager Brian Snitker altered his lineup on Friday as he moved struggling rookie Dansby Swanson to the eighth spot and filled his void in the second spot with Adonis Garcia with the hope he'd find success while resting between Ender Inciarte and Freeman. Garcia followed Inciarte's fourth-inning double with an RBI single and began the ninth inning with a solo home run off Hector Neris.
But even though Inciarte produced an unexpected power surge last week, the Braves have simply not consistently created run-producing opportunities at the top of their lineup. Inciarte has batted .235 with a .278 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot. And even with Garcia's productive night, the Braves have produced a .159 batting average and .183 on-base percentage from their lineup's second spot.
"I've got to get on base and I'm not saying Freddie has to hit home runs," Inciarte said. "We're doing the best we can. Adonis did a great job today. It's just a matter of time before we start scoring some runs."
Freeman has certainly done his part as he has slashed .397/.485/.682 through this season's first 16 games. He has tallied 11 extra-base hits over his past 37 at-bats. He registered his 11th extra-base hit of the 2016 season during his 110th at-bat.
"He's doing what he is capable of doing," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He's just a really elite hitter. He kind of keeps things in perspective. He's kind of like one of those boring pros who does his job every day. He comes to play and expects to play. There are no highs or lows. He's a pleasure to be around because of the professionalism he has and how he goes about his job."