May 27th, 2017 at 1:00 pm 
by Harold Uhlman On Friday, the Dodgers claimed utility infielder Mike Freeman off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.
Like his recently waived (and subsequently claimed) teammate Chris Heston, Freeman is a three-time draftee. The Orlando, Florida native was initially selected by the San Diego Padres in the 41st round of the 2006 First-Year Player draft out of Edgewater High School in Orlando. He was next picked by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 36th round of the 2009 draft out of Clemson University and again by the Diamondbacks in the 11th round of the 2010 June draft, also from Clemson.
Freeman played six years in the Diamondbacks minor league system before getting an at bat at he MLB level. Prior to the 2013 season, Baseball America named Freeman as having the Best Strike Zone Discipline in Arizona’s farm system.
During his minor league career Freeman compiled a batting average of .292 and an OBP of .363. Even more impressively, in 313 games at the AAA level he has a batting average of .316 and an OBP of .378.
With the Reno Aces in 2015 he posted a .317 batting average over 113 games which was the fourth-best average among Pacific Coast League qualifiers.
Although he continued to hit well at the AAA level, Freeman was waived by the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 1, 2016 and quickly claimed by the Seattle Mariners.
He got a taste of MLB in 2016 with the Diamondbacks and Mariners and again in 2017 with Seattle. In a small sample size, he hit .135 in 52 MLB at bats.
Although an infielder by trade, Freeman was called upon to pitch the ninth inning of a recent blowout game for the Mariners. And even though he allowed a run to score in the lopsided 16-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox, Freeman has the unique distinction of having his pitching stats included on his Baseball_Reference.com page. (Photo credit – Stephen Brashear)
Returned to the Mainers Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers by the Mariners in May, Freeman hit .356 with an OBP of .424 over 15 games.
The 29-year-old utility player bats left and throws right. He has acquired a reputation for being a grinder, as they would call a hockey player willing to do the hard work in the corners.
Mariners manager Scott Servais appreciates what Freeman brings to a game: “(Freeman) can run,” Servais said. “He’s athletic. He’s a grinder. He’s maybe not as toolsy as some of the other guys who have come up, but he’s a good baseball player.”
“On the field, I play the game hard,” Freeman said when asked to describe his playing style. “I like to get dirty. I play aggressive. I love the game of baseball and like to think I play it the right way.”
He also is flexible and has been a jack of all trades playing primarily at second base and shortstop but also taking a turn at every position except pitcher and catcher.
“I’ve always kind of adapted as needed. … I morph into whatever role is needed for the team.”
Of interest, the 6’0”/190-pound Mike Freeman made his MLB debut on Sunday, July 17, 2016 as the Arizona Diamondbacks hosted the Dodgers. He started in right field and did not have a hit in three at bats.
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Here’s a bit of his post game interview after pitching the ninth inning.
“I think I was throwing slow enough to be compared to a Wakefield,” Freeman said, “except my ball was not knuckling.”
One by one, the Chicago hitters came up taking big hacks at Freeman’s pitches. Tim Anderson led off with a single. Matt Davidson followed with a single. Omar Narvaez made it three consecutive hits.
“I thought about having to brush them back — they were entirely too comfortable against me,” Freeman joked. “I was trying to switch it up — lob one in, then firm one in there.”
Willy Garcia’s sacrifice fly to center field scored the only run of the inning. Freeman got three fly-ball outs, then walked back to the dugout to a standing ovation.
“It’s interesting being out there, it’s kind of funny,” Freeman said. “But I never want that opportunity because it means we’re losing the game by a significant amount.”