I'm a David Freese fan. You're a David Freese fan. As long as 2011 exists as a year, we'll all be David Freese fans.
Doesn't mean he's making it easy to say such things…
Mr. Freese has played in 27 games in 2013 and taken 91 ABs. He's hitting .209 and has only 7 fewer walks PLUS hits than strikeouts. In short, he's having a miserable start to 2013.
What struck me when I was digging into the numbers wasn't how itsy-bitsy his 2013 line was, but instead, it was just how his career stats don't really belie his stature with the Cardinals.
Quick: David Freese, replaced at 3B. That's the headline. You think the reaction is muted in St. Louis? Heck no. It's a riot. But over the course of 3 full seasons and parts of 2009 and 2013, you know how many HRs he's hit? 35. RBIs? 181. Runs 150.
Not to be trite, but that's kind of what Pujols did fairly regularly for the Cardinals in a season (maybe a bit longer than a season, but not TOO much longer than 162 games). Yet, Freese has every bit the stature in the community that Pujols had.
Again, I'm a fan. 2011 was awesome. But if you're not a Cardinal fan, I think you're starting to wonder if the past is clouding the judgment of the right now. If he didn't have that 2011 post-season on his resume, what would we be saying?
He's earned the right to work his way out of a slump. His best overall year was in 2012. But baseball history is littered with 'good over one year'. As the Cardinals work into June with the chance to be special, it's still necessary to look at the teams points of weakness.
When one of your hitters is lifted late in a game for a guy hitting .200, that's an alarm bell finally sounding on David Freese's season.
Now, the Friday Links…
The most clever. LINK HERE
Campaigning. Then having the job. LINK HERE
Yelp review of Amy's Baking Company. LINK HERE
Fun at work. LINK HERE
Good kick. LINK HERE
Reverse cotton candy eating. LINK HERE
That's it. That's the week. Enjoy summer, since it's here in STL and not going away any time soon. We look forward to seeing how the Blues do in… oh, wait. Nevermind.
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