Can you say hot?

David Freese is hot. He was named National League Player of the Week yesterday after hitting .462 (12 for 26) last week, with three home runs – his first of the season – and 11 RBI. Last night he hit a bases-loaded double for one of his two hits, driving in three runs and raising his batting average to .358. His average currently ranks second in the National League.

Freese should have been mentioned in my April wrap-up post on Saturday. He hit .324 in April, drove in 14 runs, had some terrific plays at third base (after a rough night on a Sunday night ESPN game against the Brewers early in the month). He was definitely one of the month's surprises. But in my rush to finish before the noon game began on May 1, I overlooked him. And all he’s done since then is make me feel all the more foolish about forgetting him – he’s seven for 13 this month with three doubles, two homers and five RBIs for a .538 average and on-base percentage, slugging percentage of 1.231 and OPS of 1.769.

Okay, David, you get your own post.

Going into spring training, Freese was the top candidate for the Cardinals third base job, but there were some reservations about him too. He’d been arrested for DUI in December. This column by Bernie Miklasz from late February is interesting to re-read now. I can be as skeptical as any fan needs to be anymore, so sometimes quotes from players sound like nothing more than the clichés straight out of “Bull Durham.” Yet this quote from the column stands out two months later: “I believe the Cardinals will see me at my best. It's exciting. I think a lot of good things will happen this year.” Just over a month into the season, good things are definitely happening for him.

Then there's Batman. Derrick Goold first reported on Freese's Batman mask back in spring training, then mentioned it again yesterday. The mask also was mentioned in the Associated Press article about Sunday's game: "Freese leads National League rookies with nine multihit games, and he had six RBIs on Wednesday against Atlanta. He’s taken to wearing a Batman mask in the clubhouse as a good luck charm before games. 'I think it’s just one of those weeks. I threw the Batman mask on a couple of times,' Freese said. 'It’s got a lot of hits in it.'" So Freese even has the foresight to pick an appropriate superhero to admire, or at least is trying to live up to his hero's name on the field. (Sidenote: why are there no pictures of him in the Batman mask in any of these articles??!?!!)

Back to the first sentence. Yes, David Freese is hot – both on and off the field. Look at the pictures we do have, which Erika herself took during spring training! And these don't really do justice to those eyes, that hair, the chin ... (Do I have to use a #chickcomment tag like we do on Twitter?)

So here's hoping Batman continues to excel as he's done so far this season, in all facets of the game. And may his Player of the Week honors be the first of many for him this season.


On a different note
If you haven't yet had the chance to check out "Brendan and Joe's Excellent Adventures" videos on the Fox Sports Midwest site, you need to do it. These two just continually crack us up. (Is it any surprise that Joe was wearing David's Batman mask in the clubhouse?) Hey, Fox Midwest, where's their reality show??