Just like most of the baseball world anticipated, infielder David Freese announced his retirement on Saturday after a very impressive 11-year big league career.
The 36-year-old Texas native spent his last two seasons with the Dodgers after being acquired from the Pirates for infield prospect Jesus Valdez in August 2018 as part of a waiver deal.
Originally selected in the ninth round of the 2006 draft by the Padres, Freese broke into the majors in 2009 with the Cardinals.
The right-handed hitter’s most productive year came in 2012 with the Redbirds when he hit .293/.372/.467 with 25 doubles, 20 home runs and 79 RBI over 144 games. During that season, he garnered the only All-Star appearance of his career.
In addition to the Cardinals, Pirates and Dodgers, Freese also spent two full years with the Angels.
Over his 69-game postseason career, he hit .299/.370/.549 with 10 home runs, 17 doubles and 36 RBI over 230 plate appearances. In 1184 regular season games and 4229 plate appearances, Freese hit .277/.351/.423 with 113 home runs. He had accumulated a career 19.1 oWAR.
Known for his clutch performances in the postseason, specifically with the Cardinals, he was honored with the 2011 NLCS and 2011 World Series MVP awards.
In his two years with the Dodgers, Freese played 98 regular season games, hitting .328/.421/.607 with 13 home runs in 233 plate appearances. During the playoffs, he was a key contributor to the Dodger offense, going 12-for-30 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBI.
“Will never stop thinking about the days I got to be around such wonderful people playing this game,” Freese wrote on Twitter Saturday. “As I move forward with the next phase of my life, I am forever grateful to all of you and the game of baseball.”
Don’t know where Freese considers home or what his family situation is but it would be great if we could find a way to keep him in the organization in one role or another.
Right now, he lives in Austin. Apparently, he just started learning how to play the acoustic guitar.
At least you don’t need good legs for that.
He struck the right chords here. I’d like to have seen him get more at bats. In 186 plate appearances he had nearly the same WAR, 1.4, as Kiké had, 1.5, in 460 plate appearances. In those 69 post season games a .919 OPS? Wow. Hard to find guys like him.