Freddie Freeman & Chris Johnson – Getting the Job Done All Year Long

Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

There are two guys that stick out to me this year who were able to put together great seasons, and then follow that up with a great postseason. Both of them had career years, and both were consistent hitters from Opening Day until the last out was made on Monday night. Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson.

Freeman

Freddie broke out with a monster year in 2013. For the first time in his career he was able to hit over .300, and finished the year with a .319 average. He had 176 hits, an OB% of nearly .400 and went deep 23 times which tied a career high. He hit .443 (58 for 131) with runners in scoring position, leading to 109 RBI.

In the postseason he continued his good hitting. He was 5 for 16 (.313) and scored 4 runs. Unfortunately he did not drive in any runs as he was 0 for 4 with RISP, but he was hitting during the Division Series which can’t be said for everyone.

Johnson

Chris had really big shoes to fill assuming the position Chipper Jones left vacant. Having Juan Francisco early in the year may have helped that along, but for the majority of the year he was the man at the hot corner and he was one of the NL’s best hitters. Johnson really proved he was a true hitter with a .321 average during the regular season, and was over .330 for most of the year. He did tally a lot of strikeouts for a base-hit guy, but when he got rolling everything fell for him.

He may have shined the brightest during the Division Series though. 7 for 16 (.438) with 5 RBI. He drove in over a third of the Braves runs and without him it may not have been as close as it was. He seemed to deliver key hit after key hit.

Amid all the disappointment, at least we can take some solace that the corners of our infield were as solid as they could be.