Even star players like Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman must get back to basics during hitting slumps

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Freddie Freeman’s father has long been the one in his ear with an encouraging word and some advice to simplify his swing.

Even now, in his mid-30s, he still hears it from dad: Return to the tee.

Frederick Freeman Sr. instructs his son to get back to his hitting basics when times are tough. So, on a September Saturday in San Francisco, the Dodgers slugger did just that. He grabbed his bat and headed for the indoor cage to take some cuts off a tee.

It served as a reset of sorts for the Los Angeles first baseman, a chance to adjust his swing ever so slightly.

Freeman wound up with three hits in a 13-7 win over the Giants that night of Sept. 13 before getting three more the next day in a 10-2 triumph.

He took all of 45 warmup swings that first day behind the scenes — 12 balls off the tee and some 25 underhand flips before listening in on a hitters’ meeting then completing one more round in the indoor cage at Oracle Park.

“It’s always a work in progress,” Freeman said. “Sometimes you feel good where you can just go up there and it feels like you’re just swinging and you hit the ball hard. Sometimes you’re going through it.

“Even as you get older you’ve still got to go back to the basics. I hit off the tee this morning before the game, sometimes you’ve got to back to square one even if you’ve been playing a long time. Over the course of a season if you stick with your process and your plan and hunt where you’re looking and stick to it, it’s going to work over time.”

Freeman figures he hits off the tee maybe four times a season — “only when I think I’m really bad,” he said, smiling.

A perplexing funk left him searching for answers over much of a frustrating first half this year.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, meanwhile, remained ready to offer his support whenever needed, even for a veteran star unaccustomed to such hitting struggles.

Of course, Freeman found his way.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell provides an important reminder: There’s a lot of failing in baseball.

“That’s the wonderful challenge of being a major league hitter,” Counsell said. “If you do your job right you don’t always get the results you want. In basketball if you shoot a good shot it’s going to go in. Something’s not going to happen where it’s not going to go in, it’s going to go in. In baseball it’s a little different and I think that’s what makes it hard and I think that’s why we talk about the mental component of baseball and hitting so much. Those are challenges that the guys get good at. I think players get really good at that stuff. That doesn’t mean it still doesn’t affect you.”

Sometimes, turning to the metrics is the way to go nowadays more so than during the 55-year-old Counsell’s 16-year major league career as an infielder from 1995-2011.

“The statistics today in a lot of ways can help players because we can do a little better job of when a guy is just having bad luck and I think they have a better idea of that,” Counsell said. “Before, I would just say I was having bad luck and nobody would really believe you. We’re in a little better spot to do that. And then there’s sometimes when you’re not having bad luck, you’re just not very good.”

Padres manager Mike Shildt has an open-door policy with his players, and he’s all about establishing dialogue and trust to know when somebody might need more information and when to just leave him be.

“I think every player gains more experience and figures out how to deal with the challenges that are 162 games-plus schedule,” Shildt said. “It’s real, the schedule ebbs and flows and there’s going to be that with the human factor of this. You do try to, from my seat, always a starting point is just be supportive. Just the biggest thing is supportive and create relationships with players. Then you know how to best communicate with them on what they need and what they don’t need — sometimes they don’t want a whole lot. Sometimes they need something.”

“Then more specifically is what they may need as far as encouragement about what with our staff to work on — a little more clarity that we need to work on plate zone discipline, the ball up, breaking balls, etc. … It’s a combination of things, but mostly about relationships and trust.”

Sticking to the approach and plan, “it’s that simple” for Freeman. That’s what he did to find his groove again at the plate after the All-Star break.

“I’m lucky enough that my approach, I’ve been in this game a long time, it’s worked over time,” he said. “This game is hard, sometimes it’s really hard. … Just keep working and keep going and sometimes when they are going tough you can chase things and that’s when things can spiral. I know it’s going to work, it’s worked for a long time, so if it doesn’t work then I don’t know, it is what it is.”

The 36-year-old nine-time All-Star batted .297 leading into the break, but was hitting .376 on May 11. Roberts was unconcerned, and Freeman finished the regular season at .295 with 24 home runs and 90 RBIs.

“I’m really impressed with how he just continues to work. He expects a lot of himself. He’s an easy guy to bet on,” Roberts said. “Hitting is still hard. … He just doesn’t waver from his work.”

Freeman knows momentum comes and goes in this game over the course of a 162-game season, with the many variables like travel, weather, pitchers and everything in between.

That allows him to keep it all in perspective to better deal with the rough days.

And, on occasion when needed, return to the tee under his dad’s direction.

“Every day’s a new day. You’re not facing the same guys every day so even if you feel good one day that’s why you can go 0 for 4 with four strikeouts the next day,” he said. “We’re just going to keep grinding.”

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