Scout who signed Freeman believes he can play third base

Atlanta Braves scout Tom Battista first saw Freddie Freeman in 2003. Freeman had just finished his freshman year of high school and was playing on the SoCal Atlanta Braves scout team. He was only 13 years old.

“He was the best 13-year-old I had seen at that time,” Battista remembered Wednesday evening. “He was 6-2 and 190 pounds, and he could hit, throw, field and hit for power better than anyone two years older than him. He was a no-brainer at an early age.”

And Freeman was a third baseman.

That was Freeman’s position throughout high school. He played first occasionally, according to Battista, but third base was Freeman’s spot.

Now, years later, Freeman might be moving back to third. Freeman told reporters in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon he has volunteered to move back to third base so his replacement at first base, Matt Adams, can stay in the lineup.

Adams is fairly limited to first base. He doesn’t have Freeman’s arm to play at third, and Adams has never played there. Plus, the St. Louis Cardinals’ experiment of playing Adams in left field was not very successful earlier this season and in spring training.

So, with everyone asking what will happen when Freeman comes back from his injury, the Braves’ best player has provided a possible answer.

Freeman will work at third base with coach Ron Washington, including next week when the Braves are on the road in San Diego and Oakland. Then Freeman is setting the road series in Washington that starts July 6 as a possible return date.

At third base.

Battista is the best source to check on this. Now the Braves’ national crosschecker, Battista may be the last person to see Freeman play extensively at third base when he was Atlanta’s area scout in southern California.

“I’m confident he can play third base and play it well,” Battista said. “He was above average in high school, and he’s an athlete. He played only third base his entire high school career.”

The Braves worked Freeman out at first base and third base before drafting him in the second round of the 2007 draft. Battista said Freeman may have played first in some All-Star Games with logjams in the infield, but Freeman was, “a career amateur third baseman and a damn good one. He looked the part of a big-league corner infielder out of high school. By 2007, he checked all the boxes at 6’4”, 210 with a plus arm, good reactions, an above average glove and he was light on his feet for a big guy. He played third base his entire high school career and did it very well.”

It was the Braves who believed Freeman could make the transition to first base.

“We saw the growth potential as a soon-to-be 6-5, 240-pounder, and we knew he’d grow into a future Gold Glove-caliber first baseman one day,” Battista said. “It takes a true athlete to play first base at the caliber he plays it. I still believe he could play both corners at the big-league level.”

One thing Battista is not worried about is Freeman’s arm. Along with having a strong gun from third base, Freeman also was a pitcher in high school.

“He would walk over from third base and close games at 91-94 mph like Huston Street,” Battista said.

Some wonder if Freeman is too big for third base. Kris Bryant of the Cubs is 6-5, 230, Texas third baseman Joey Gallo is 6-5, 235 and the Braves once had a third baseman (at least for a short while) named Troy Glaus, who was 6-5, 220.

The potential lineup with Freeman and Adams both playing is scary. Manager Brian Snitker could go with Ender Inciarte, Brandon Phillips, Freeman, Matt Kemp, Adams, Tyler Flowers, Nick Markakis and Dansby Swanson. That’s likely why Freeman has volunteered to see if he can once again play third base.

Freeman’s goal of July 6 is two weeks away, which is a lifetime in baseball. But these next two weeks could be interesting as Freeman reacquaints himself with a position he was quite good at a decade ago.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Scout who signed Freeman believes he can play third base."