Freddie Freeman has long been one of the game's premier first basemen, but it's only in the past couple of seasons that his star has reached the very top echelon among baseball's best. Freeman, who had finished among the top five in National League MVP Award voting three times, finally won the honor in 2020. Overall, Freeman is a five-time All-Star, has won a Gold Glove Award and two Silver Slugger Awards, and now is a World Series champion after helping lead the Braves to their first title since 1995. Coming off that triumph, he now hits the free-agent market for the first time in his career, after completing an eight-year, $135 million contract he inked prior to the 2014 campaign.

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Here's what you need to know about Freeman:

FAST FACTS
Birthdate: Sept. 12, 1989 (Age 32 in 2022)
Primary position: 1B
Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 220 pounds
Bats/throws: Left/right
Place of birth: Villa Park, Calif.
School(s): El Modena (Calif.) HS
Drafted: 2nd round, 2007, by Braves
MLB debut: Sept. 1, 2010
Qualifying offer: Received offer; declined

THE NUMBERS
2021: .300/.393/.503 (133 OPS+), 31 HR, 4.5 WAR* in 159 G
Career: .295/.384/.509 (138 OPS+), 271 HR, 43.1 WAR in 1,565 G
*Per Baseball-Reference

STAT TO KNOW
Freeman is one of just 12 first basemen in AL/NL history to play in 1,000 or more games while producing a batting average over .290, an on-base percentage over .380, and a slugging percentage over .500.

QUESTION MARK
Freeman had another Freeman-esque season in 2021, but his slugging was down -- he slugged a robust .503 but that was his lowest mark since 2015; his 58 extra-base hits were also his fewest since '15. He had 47 extra-base hits in a 60-game 2021 campaign.

In a class of his own
With his 133 OPS+ in 2021, Freeman became the only player to post a 130 OPS+ or higher in each of the last nine seasons (minimum 250 plate appearances in each season). Only Mike Trout and Paul Goldschmidt have done that in seven straight seasons in the same span.

On Braves' 'Mount Rushmore?'
Freeman's .303 batting average and 31 homers in 2021 made him just the fifth player in Braves history to hit .300 or better with 30 or more homers in multiple seasons -- the others are Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy and Chipper Jones. Freeman also owns the franchise record for career home runs among first basemen -- his 271 is the most by a large margin, with Joe Adcock coming in second place with 239, and Fred McGriff in third with 130.

He's beloved north of the border
Freeman has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada -- both his parents were born in Canada. He played for Team Canada in the 2017 World Baseball Classic in honor of his mother, who died of skin cancer when Freeman was 10 years old.

Slugging runs in the family
Freddie and his wife, Chelsea, recently welcomed twin boys into the world to grow their family to five. Charlie, the couple's first-born son, is quite the slugger himself already, as he displayed for the world via Twitter. He is also a huge fan of ... Fernando Tatis Jr.? Indeed, he was excited when his dad was selected as an All-Star in 2021, but perhaps not for the reason you'd think -- he was stoked that he would get the chance to meet Tatis.