Let’s get proper to it: Freddie Freeman is sort of actually headed to the Corridor of Fame.
Whereas a Freeman plaque in Cooperstown might not appear to be a daring prediction now, the velocity at which the Dodgers first baseman has gone from doubtlessly fringe Corridor of Fame candidate to near-lock has been exceptional. However that is solely as a result of the previous 5 seasons of his profession have been equally exceptional. And that is as a result of the 35-year-old Freeman has solely gotten higher with age — which is, once more, exceptional.
So, possibly it isn’t all that exceptional that Freeman, at age 35, is off to the most effective begins of his profession in 2025, additional incomes his place among the many finest first basemen in MLB historical past.
Freeman entered Friday batting .359, the highest mark within the NL and his highest common ever by way of his first 45 video games of a season. His 1.044 OPS additionally leads the league and is his highest to start out a full season since he had a 1.181 OPS by way of his first 45 video games in 2017. He is as soon as once more on tempo for 25-plus homers, 40-plus doubles and 100-plus RBIs, which might make him simply the second first baseman within the Fashionable Period to achieve these marks at age 35 or older (Yuli Gurriel, 2019).
These numbers sign the continuation of a development that started in his age-30 season and has left little doubt about his Corridor of Fame credentials.
From 2011 — Freeman’s first full season at age 21 — although 2019, the ultimate season of his 20s, he averaged an .885 OPS and three.9 bWAR per season, and was a four-time All-Star for the Braves. He additionally obtained MVP votes 5 occasions, putting as excessive as fourth within the voting (2019). That is participant.
However after turning 30 forward of the 2020 season, Freeman averaged a .929 OPS and 5.1 bWAR per season by way of 2024. He was named to 4 extra All-Star groups, received the 2020 NL MVP Award, obtained MVP votes in 4 further seasons, received the 2021 World Sequence with the Braves (with a 1.045 OPS throughout that postseason) and, oh yeah, was named the 2024 World Sequence MVP after clubbing 4 homers — together with that epic walk-off grand slam in Recreation 1 — and ending with a 1.364 OPS. That is a celebrity participant.
And that 5.1 bWAR that Freeman averaged post-30 from 2020-24? That is the very best common bWAR he is ever had over a five-year span, helped drastically by a 6.2 bWAR in 2022 and a 6.8 bWAR in 2023.
How does he hold doing it?
Freeman’s post-30 surge could be boiled right down to this: He is simply gotten higher. Although he reached base and produced runs at an distinctive clip throughout his 20s, he is in some way leveled up in key areas as he is gotten older, whereas sustaining consistency in others.
Common BA, age 21-29: .294
Common BA, age 30-34: .313
Common on-base share, ages 21-29: .380
Common on-base share, ages 30-34: .403
Common OPS, ages 21-29: .885
Common OPS, ages 30-34: .929
Additional-base hit share, ages 21-29: 39 %
Additional-base hit share, ages 30-34: 39 %
Hits per season, age 21-29: 161
Hits per season, age 30-34: 163 (consists of shortened 2020 season)
RBIs/season, ages 21-29: 89
RBIs/season, ages 30-34: 85 (consists of shortened 2020 season)
HR/season, ages 21-29: 25
HR/season, ages 30-34: 23 (consists of shortened 2020 season)
Strikeout share, ages 21-29: 20 %
Strikeout share, ages 30-34: 15 %
Additionally necessary: Freeman is hitting the ball as laborious as ever. His profession common exit velocity is 90.4 mph. However this season, it is 92.2 mph, his highest mark since a career-high 92.4 in his 2020 MVP season. His barrel price this season is sort of 12 %, additionally his highest since 2020.
Freeman is MLB’s energetic chief in hits, runs, doubles, RBIs and complete bases, and no person else is basically shut in any of these classes. He is underneath contract with the Dodgers by way of 2027, at which level he can develop into a free agent forward of his age-38 season. He very effectively might be approaching 3,000 hits by then, which, ought to he get there, would just about guarantee his Corridor of Fame election by old-school requirements.
However even when Freeman falls in need of that hallowed complete, his induction would nonetheless appear a protected guess, provided that just one Corridor of Fame first baseman reached that mark (Eddie Murray; 3,255) — although Albert Pujols (3,384) ought to be a part of him quickly.
By WAR, Freeman is already in some glorious firm, particularly contemplating that his age-35 season is ongoing. For his profession, Freeman has been price 62.9 bWAR, solely barely behind the 64.9 bWAR of the typical Corridor of Fame first baseman. That 62.9 complete is already higher than Corridor of Famers Todd Helton, Hank Greenberg, Invoice Terry, Tony Perez, Fred McGriff and Orlando Cepeda, amongst others.
Coming into Friday, Freeman was on tempo for six.4 bWAR this season, which might make him simply the eighth first baseman ever to complete with a bWAR of 6 or increased at 35 or older, becoming a member of a listing that features Hank Aaron (1971, age 37), Stan Musial (1957, age 36) and Greenberg (1946, age 35).
There’s additionally this: Ought to Freeman go on to win the 2025 NL batting title, he could be simply the fourth participant ever to win a league MVP, a World Sequence MVP and a batting crown, becoming a member of Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Pete Rose.
It is typically true that Corridor of Fame foundations are inbuilt a participant’s 20s and cemented of their 30s. Freeman has actually embodied this concept. And, as his 2025 season has proven, he does not appear to be slowing down.
