Over the past two weeks the bat of de Facto Atlanta Braves captain, first baseman, and one of the leaders in the NL MVP race, Freddie Freeman, turned ice-cold. While his overall numbers are good, his run production and to a lesser degree that of Nick Markakis dropped off.
Markakis production seemed so automatic we seem to take it for granted. It’s a shock when Nick doesn’t get a hit or two every game or drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. If Markakis is the metronome who keeps the Braves rhythm working, Freeman’s power drives the machine.