The Los Angeles Dodgers have two players in the running for the batting champion title this season.
Three-time All-Star catcher Will Smith and nine-time All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman are neck-and-neck with a .303 batting average. And coincidentally, the third player tied for the batting title is former Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner, who now plays for the Philadelphia Phillies.
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The trio are tied in batting average, but Smith leads all of the National League in on-base percentage (.410). Smith also has a higher slugging percentage (.502) and OPS (.912) than Freeman and Turner this season.
Freeman spoke to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register about being a frontrunner for the batting title. He said regardless of if he wins or not, he must have had a strong season at the plate to even be in the running.
“The only thing I’ll say about it is if you’re talking about a batting title with me, that means I had a good year. That puts a smile on my face,” Freeman said to Plunkett.
Freeman has never won a batting title, despite winning the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 2020. The three-time NL Silver Slugger has come close to winning multiple times in his career but ultimately finished as a runner-up in 2020 and 2022 and third in 2023.
“Have I been close? Yes. Would it be cool to win one? Obviously it would be very cool to win one,” Freeman said. “But if you don’t win one, that doesn’t take away from a good year you had.
“I’m not trying to win batting titles. I’m just trying to be myself. I’m just trying to have a good year,” Freeman added.
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Smith has also never won a batting title and has never been in the running for one throughout his career. He has never ranked higher than 15th in a batting metric in the NL other than when he ranked seventh for getting hit by 15 pitches in 2023.
Last season, Smith did not rank in the top 20 in any category. But now he is competing with a current and former teammate for his first batting title.
Freeman said he, along with Smith, would love to win the batting title this season.
“Would I love to win one? Yes, I would love to win one. Everyone in here would love to win one,” Freeman said.
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