Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, has had a pretty good start to the season. And since failure is more prominent than fortune in baseball, when players are experiencing consistent success at the plate, the last thing they want is for their at bats to be interrupted, especially by injury.
So it’s understandable that Freeman, who is hitting .417, with a home run and seven RBIs, was upset when he got to the ballpark and found out that the team put him on the disabled list because of an oblique strain. According to ESPN, the Braves first baseman was upset he didn’t get a say in the matter.
“They didn’t even give me a choice,” Freeman said before Atlanta’s game with the Chicago Cubs. “It’s my career. I should be able to make that decision.”
“They didn’t even tell me anything,” Freeman said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I’m pretty [angry] right now.”
Braves general manager Frank Wren, said that the team didn’t want to take any chances with their talented first baseman. He also said that he isn’t happy that Freeman made the issue public.
“Especially this early in the season, we’re not going to take a chance to turn what would be two to three weeks into six or eight weeks by tearing that oblique area,” Wren said.
“He’s a young guy that wants to play, and you appreciate that,” Wren said. “You want him to be out there, but I think sometimes you have to protect players from themselves.
“This is not one of those situations where we want to lose him for the whole first half by letting him go out and tear that oblique area, and then we’re dealing with a whole different injury,” Wren added. “We think we’ve caught it early enough that he should be back in two to three weeks.”
Freeman picked up the injury in a workout before the season began, and was favoring it in recent games but said that he wanted to play through it.
“It’s not hurt to the point where I can’t play,” Freeman said. “I can play just fine. At least talk to me about it. You can’t just make a decision without me knowing.”
The Braves management made the right decision in shutting Freeman down while the injury is in its minor stages. Last season, in a similar case, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, decided to play through the same injury and ended up aggravating it to the point where, he had to miss over a month of the season.
Younger players have a habit of overlooking the big picture in these types of situations and need to be protected from themselves. He’ll get over it.