Let's get right to it: Freddie Freeman is almost certainly headed to the Hall of Fame.
While a Freeman plaque in Cooperstown may not seem like a bold prediction now, the speed at which the Dodgers first baseman has gone from potentially fringe Hall of Fame candidate to near-lock has been remarkable. But that's only because the past five seasons of his career have been equally remarkable. And that's because the 35-year-old Freeman has only gotten better with age -- which is, again, remarkable.
So, maybe it's not all that remarkable that Freeman, at age 35, is off to one of the best starts of his career in 2025, further earning his place among the best first basemen in MLB history.
Freeman entered Friday batting .359, the top mark in the NL and his highest average ever through his first 45 games of a season. His 1.044 OPS entering Friday also led the league and is his highest to start a full season since he had a 1.181 OPS through his first 45 games in 2017. He's once again on pace for 25-plus homers, 40-plus doubles and 100-plus RBIs, which would make him just the second first baseman in the Modern Era to reach those marks at age 35 or older (Yuli Gurriel, 2019).
Those numbers signal the continuation of a trend that began in his age-30 season and has left little doubt about his Hall of Fame credentials.
Prime after 30?
From 2011 -- Freeman's first full season at age 21 -- though 2019, the final season of his 20s, he averaged an .885 OPS and 3.9 bWAR per season, and was a four-time All-Star for the Braves. He also received MVP votes five times, placing as high as fourth in the voting (2019). That's a good player.
But after turning 30 ahead of the 2020 season, Freeman averaged a .929 OPS and 5.1 bWAR per season through 2024. He was named to four more All-Star teams, won the 2020 NL MVP Award, received MVP votes in four additional seasons, won the 2021 World Series with the Braves (with a 1.045 OPS during that postseason) and, oh yeah, was named the 2024 World Series MVP after clubbing four homers -- including that epic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 -- and finishing with a 1.364 OPS. That's a superstar player.
And that 5.1 bWAR that Freeman averaged post-30 from 2020-24? That's the highest average bWAR he's ever had over a five-year span, helped greatly by a 6.2 bWAR in 2022 and a 6.8 bWAR in 2023.
How does he keep doing it?
Freeman's post-30 surge can be boiled down to this: He's just gotten better. Though he reached base and produced runs at an exceptional clip during his 20s, he's somehow leveled up in key areas as he's gotten older, while maintaining consistency in others.
Average BA, age 21-29: .294
Average BA, age 30-34: .313
Average on-base percentage, ages 21-29: .380
Average on-base percentage, ages 30-34: .403
Average OPS, ages 21-29: .885
Average OPS, ages 30-34: .929
Extra-base hit percentage, ages 21-29: 39 percent
Extra-base hit percentage, ages 30-34: 39 percent
Hits per season, age 21-29: 161
Hits per season, age 30-34: 163 (includes shortened 2020 season)
RBIs/season, ages 21-29: 89
RBIs/season, ages 30-34: 85 (includes shortened 2020 season)
HR/season, ages 21-29: 25
HR/season, ages 30-34: 23 (includes shortened 2020 season)
Strikeout percentage, ages 21-29: 20 percent
Strikeout percentage, ages 30-34: 15 percent
Also important: Freeman is hitting the ball as hard as ever. His career average exit velocity is 90.4 mph. But this season, it's 92.2 mph, his highest mark since a career-high 92.4 in his 2020 MVP season. His barrel rate this season is nearly 12 percent, also his highest since 2020.
The future
Freeman is MLB's active leader in hits, runs, doubles, RBIs and total bases, and nobody else is really close in any of those categories. He's under contract with the Dodgers through 2027, at which point he can become a free agent ahead of his age-38 season. He very well could be approaching 3,000 hits by then, which, should he get there, would pretty much assure his Hall of Fame election by old-school standards.
But even if Freeman falls short of that hallowed total, his induction would still seem a safe bet, given that only one Hall of Fame first baseman reached that mark (Eddie Murray; 3,255) -- though Albert Pujols (3,384) should join him soon.
By WAR, Freeman is already in some excellent company, especially considering that his age-35 season is ongoing. For his career, Freeman has been worth 62.9 bWAR, only slightly behind the 64.9 bWAR of the average Hall of Fame first baseman. That 62.9 total is already better than Hall of Famers Todd Helton, Hank Greenberg, Bill Terry, Tony Perez, Fred McGriff and Orlando Cepeda, among others.
Entering Friday, Freeman was on pace for 6.4 bWAR this season, which would make him just the eighth first baseman ever to finish with a bWAR of 6 or higher at 35 or older, joining a list that includes Hank Aaron (1971, age 37), Stan Musial (1957, age 36) and Greenberg (1946, age 35).
There's also this: Should Freeman go on to win the 2025 NL batting title, he would be just the fourth player ever to win a league MVP, a World Series MVP and a batting crown, joining Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Pete Rose.
It's generally true that Hall of Fame foundations are built in a player's 20s and cemented in their 30s. Freeman has certainly embodied this idea. And, as his 2025 season has shown, he doesn't seem to be slowing down.