5th Season Friday: Freddie Freeman

The 2013 season marks the fifth in the brief history of the Gwinnett Braves Baseball Club. To honor that milestone, GwinnettBraves.com will feature some of the great players from the previous four seasons of G-Braves baseball on "5th Season Friday." The feature will run each Friday until the Season Opener on April 4.

Friday, February 1: Freddie Freeman

Freddie Freeman, one year wonder. That's not something you could say about a player coming off a sophomore season that included 23 home runs, a .796 OPS, a team-high 94 RBI and two National League Player of the Week awards. However, when looking back at the Triple-A career of the hulking first baseman from Fountain Valley, CA, you can say just that.

That's because Freeman's mighty contributions to the Gwinnett Braves came in one single season. In 2010, the 6-foot-5 slugger would emerge from the mire of an early slump to produce one of the most memorable campaigns in brief team history, culminating in an award no Triple-A Brave had won since the early 90's.

Freeman's path to Gwinnett, and ultimately Atlanta, began in June 2007 with his selection in the second round of the first year player draft. With only high school experience under his belt, he went on to hit .268 with six homers and 30 RBI in 59 games with the Gulf Coast League Braves that same season. Entering 2008 as the 87th best prospect in the game according to Baseball America, Freeman proved he was better than the ranking implied as he hit .316 with 33 doubles, seven triples, 18 home runs and 95 RBI for the Class-A Rome Braves. Power numbers tapered off the next year as he combined to hit eight homers and drive in 58 between Advanced-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Mississippi, but he'd still be tabbed the Braves' second-best prospect heading into 2010.

A 21-year-old Freeman opened the season as the G-Braves' starting first baseman in 2010. In his Triple-A debut on April 8 against Charlotte, he went 1-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored in an 8-6 victory. It was a solid showing in his first-ever International League action, but he'd drive in just one more run over the next 12 games.

Hitting a mere .176 following the second of a four-game set at Norfolk on April 20, Freeman was in desperate need of a breakout game. That breakout came at long last on April 21, when he connected on his first Triple-A homer, a two-run shot off Tides' left-hander Troy Patton. He finished the day 2-for-4 with his first multi-RBI effort of the year, but his true offensive awakening came in the series finale a day later. On April 22, he went 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI in an 8-3 G-Braves' rout. His 6-for-8 surge in two games lifted his batting average from .176 to .254.

By the end of April, Freeman was hitting .264 with four doubles, four homers and 13 RBI. A sluggish May hampered him again offensively, but he'd catch fire in June. In the season's first summer month, he hit .318, doubled eight times, homered three times and drove in 17. Freeman strung together a 12-game hitting streak from June 12 to June 23, including a pair of three-hit performances to help raise his average to .277. He'd never again dip below the .270 mark the rest of the year.

Freeman rode the hot streak into midsummer. He clubbed four homers in a seven-game span from June 28 to July 4 to reach the 10-homer mark. On July 10, he became the first G-Brave to reach the 50-RBI plateau. Though closing the first half of his first Triple-A season with a .287 average, 22 doubles, 10 homers and 50 RBI, he would not join Barbaro Canizares, Mike Dunn and Wes Timmons in a trip to the Triple-A All-Star Game in Allentown, PA.

As if motivated by the All-Star snub, Freeman continued to improve in an exceedingly impressive second half with Gwinnett. He added his 12th clout of the year and plated four RBI for the winning margin in a 6-2 decision at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 19. In an early August series at Coca-Cola Park, the very stadium that hosted the Triple-A All-Star Game he missed, Freeman went an astounding 11-for-18 with eight RBI in a four-game sweep of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Freeman made multi-hit games a habit down the stretch. In a seven-game span from August 20 to August 26, he racked up six multi-hit efforts to raise his average to a season-high .324. The last game of that streak was his best as a G-Brave, a perfect 5-for-5 night in a rematch with Durham on August 26. That game included his 18th and final home run with Gwinnett and four more RBI, raising his season total to 87.

The sweet swinging lefty hit .375 following the All-Star Break to raise his final season batting average to .319, qualifying third in the International League. He led the IL in hits (147) and total bases (240) while also finishing second in the circuit in doubles (35), third in RBI (87), fourth in slugging percentage (.521) and fifth in extra-base hits (55). And, at season's end, he finally received the recognition he deserved.

The International League named Freeman the 2010 Rookie of the Year, making him the first Braves' Triple-A player to win the award since the legendary Chipper Jones did so for Richmond in 1993. He'd also take home the award that eluded him at midseason, claiming the IL's postseason All-Star award for first base.

Freeman's baseball career since his final game with Gwinnett has been well known to more than just Braves fans. After a September call-up in 2010, he emerged as Atlanta's starting first baseman in 2011. A debut season with a .282 average, 32 doubles, 21 homers and 76 RBI netted him the National League Rookie Triple Crown, but he'd fall just short in NL Rookie of the Year voting to teammate and fellow G-Braves alum, closer Craig Kimbrel. Freeman further established himself as one of the game's premier young hitters in 2012, setting career highs in homers (23) and RBI (94).

Still only 23, Freeman's future is bright and full of expectations. With a brief taste of the MLB Playoffs in the National League Wild Card Game in 2012, he'll now look to lead the Atlanta Braves to the top of the NL East and the World Series in 2013.