On Tuesday evening, we learned that the Braves were considering moving first baseman Freddie Freeman to third base when he returns from his wrist injury as a way to accommodate Freeman’s replacement Matt Adams, who has been nothing short of a phenomenal replacement.
The response to the potential move were highly skeptical, viewing it was a pie-in-the-sky strategy that would not actually come to fruition. Freeman spoke about it on Wednesday and showed that, in fact, the wheels are already turning to get him in shape to play the hot corner. Via the Braves’ Twitter account:
.@FreddieFreeman5 discusses moving to third base: pic.twitter.com/Cg82aqbgZT
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 21, 2017
Freeman said he “felt pretty good” taking grounders at third base. He said he brought up the idea of moving to third base to keep Adams’ bat in the lineup. He had a meeting with president of baseball operations John Hart and GM John Coppolella, then met with manager Brian Snitker.
One reporter jokingly asked Freeman if he’d had a couple glasses of wine when he came up with the idea. Freeman replied, “No. Obviously it’s been a few years since I’ve played third base but hopefully I can take to it quickly and hopefully I can refresh my memory of doing it 10 years ago.”
Another reporter asked Freeman about the most important technique for which he needs a refresher. Freeman said, “For me, obviously, it’s charging. First base, you can kind of let the ball come to you and obviously you can’t do that at first base.”
