One Man’s Trash: The Other Freeman

Last names trip me out. Some were given for an occupation back in the day. So, a blacksmith was named Blacksmith. But he would have had to been the first blacksmith, no? What if his son wanted to be a farmer? Talk about putting one’s family into a box. What about Beaver? Did someone in authority say, “You look like a beaver so your family name will carry on the legacy forever.” Or did an individual like beavers and decided to honor them? Did the first people give themselves their own last names? Wouldn’t it be akin to nicknames now? You can’t give yourself one. I got questions, y’all! I went on this tangent because of the name Freeman. The name has English roots, describing someone who had status above a serf, owning land, but with no nobility. What if he became a slave? Anyways, Freddie Freeman is fantasy baseball royalty, owning the first base landscape and is in the minds of fantasy nerds everywhere. Tyler Freeman is….

Freeman is 24 years old, 6-foot, 190 pounds, and bats from the right side. He was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the second round of the 2017 MLB draft.

Throughout his minor league career, he didn’t walk much but the strikeout rate was in the middle school area. For you non-kid having folk, that’s 11 to 12. The power was middling with an ISO in the low-.100 range, but he did show some wheels with some stolen bases. Nothing to write home about, though. Basically, he was Mehler Freeman. Maybe if he changed his name to Morgan, we could get a little excited.

In 2022, Freeman made his MLB debut, receiving 86 plate appearances and slashing .247/.314/.286 with a .039 ISO, 4.7% walk rate, and 12.8% strikeout rate. The following season, he accrued 168 plate appearances and slashed .242/.295/.366 with a .124 ISO, 6% walk rate, and 17.9% strikeout rate. He finished with four home runs, 20 runs, 18 RBI, and five stolen bases.

Why the fook am I writing about this Freeman? WE WANT FREDDIE! <clap clap clapclapclap> WE WANT FREDDIE! <clap clap clapclapclap>

Well, to start this season, Tyler is slashing .250/.368/.500 with a .250 ISO, 10.5% walk rate, and 10,5% strikeout rate. Yes, it’s only been 19 plate appearances but he has one home run, three runs, three RBI, and a stolen base.

Looking at the Statcast numbers, he’s increased the average exit velocity from 85.8 mph to 88.9 this season. The launch angle has gone from 6.2 degrees to 18.8 this season. The barrel rate is 7.1% after being 3.2% last season.

Freeman was a utility infielder for most of his career, but he won the starting centerfield job out of camp.

“A lot of people don’t understand that it’s tough to come off the bench once every four or five days and face a guy throwing 95 mph. It’s not an easy job. If you ask anyone here, it’s one of the toughest positions in baseball.” – Tyler Freeman

The Guardians have tested Freeman by having him man multiple positions, but they think the defense plays and like his ability to contribute both speed and some power while maintaining good plate discipline. The chase rate is 31.7% while the swinging strike rate is only 9.9%. The contact rate in the strike zone is 95.7% and he’s been batting fifth or sixth in the lineup.

Freeman is only 3B eligible right now on Fantrax and NFBC, while ESPN added 2B, which is too bad because in one of my dynasty leagues, he has 2B, 3B, and SS eligibility. Regardless, he will gain OF eligibility soon.

Freeman isn’t a savior and he may not even be rosterable in a few weeks, but he’s someone to keep an eye on because there have been some encouraging things, albeit in a super, duper small sample size.