Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers‘ first baseman and 2024 World Series MVP, said this week that his father Fred — 69 years old — still throws him batting practice every single day. And according to Freeman himself, that one hour together is worth more than any session with a professional pitcher or coach. The comment, made on November 1, 2026, finally puts a name to something baseball fans have quietly suspected for years: that the most recognizable swing in MLB was built by a guy with three buckets of baseballs, not a state-of-the-art training facility.
Three Buckets, an L-Screen, and a Lifetime of Reps
The routine goes back decades. When Freddie was 7 or 8 years old, Fred Freeman was already throwing to him on Little League fields in Southern California — first working the ball to left field, then center, then open swings. Three buckets of balls, roughly 40 pitches per bucket, and an L-screen to protect the pitcher. About an hour. Every day.
When Freddie was 10, his mother Rosemary passed away from melanoma. The daily BP sessions took on a different meaning after that. They weren’t just training anymore — they were the way a father and son found to stay close without having to say much at all.
Two years later, when Freddie was 12, Fred suffered congestive heart failure. That night, Freddie drove him to the hospital. Fred has lived with that condition for nearly 25 years. What changed after that episode was that Fred made a decision: take care of himself so he could keep being part of what his son was building.
«I Seem to Do Pretty Good When He’s Up Close»
Fred’s influence never stayed locked in Freddie’s childhood. In May 2026, Freeman snapped an 0-for-16 slump with two home runs against the Padres at Petco Park. The first thing he said afterward was that his father had been there watching. «I seem to do pretty good when he’s up close,» Freeman said that day, per Dodger Blue.
Dodger Insider’s MLB Blogs had already documented the same dynamic a couple of years earlier — Fred traveling to games, Fred in the front row, Fred as his son’s personal calibration point.
The most-watched moment of that bond came in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam against the Yankees and ran straight to the front row behind home plate, where his father was sitting. In his on-field interview with Ken Rosenthal on FOX, Freddie said the moment belonged to Fred, not to him.
Now Freeman describes his father throwing at 69 and acknowledging, on his own, that the arm isn’t quite what it used to be. The quote from the clip cuts off — «I’m not very…» — but the point is already made: he’s still there, still throwing, still the reference.
The Numbers Behind the Swing
Freeman doesn’t show up in the top tiers of MLB by accident. Here’s what Statcast tracked for him in the 2026 season:
- Plate appearances: 657
- Home runs: 16 | RBI: 70
- AVG: .288 | OPS: .792
- xwOBA: .363 — 91st percentile in MLB (elite)
- Exit velocity (avg): 89.5 mph
- Barrel rate: 8.1%
- Hard-hit rate: 41.3% (balls hit 95+ mph)
- Bat speed (avg): 70.1 mph
- Sprint speed: 8th percentile (among the slowest in MLB)
A 91st-percentile xwOBA paired with an 8th-percentile sprint speed tells you everything about how Freeman operates: he beats you with the bat, full stop. Three buckets of balls a day, every day, for over 30 years will do that.
