Padres manager pinpoints why Manny Machado and Freddie Freeman are MLB’s last great hitters in a three-outcome era

With 2,336 career hits, LA Dodgers superstar Freddie Freeman is one of the finest players in all of the major leagues in terms of sheer bat-to-ball skills. He often shows up for his team in clutch situations and getting important base when runners are in scoring positions.

Similarly, the San Diego Padres' third baseman, Manny Machado, has 1,972 hits in his major league career.

Padres manager Mike Schildt talked about how they are the two of the last batters that understand the value of consistently getting hits, in an otherwise three-outcome era of baseball.

"Manny and Freddie, they came from a different era with a different philosophy and a different skill set on how to approach hitting, and they’ve been able to survive, their talent’s extraordinary, but it’s not so extraordinary that other people can’t follow it," Shildt said on Friday, via The New York Times.

Shildt also shared what he has observed, and what can be expected in the years to come.

"But the industry, including the amateur level, is tripled up where you’re just devaluing the hit. It’s not valued as highly. I followed this trend as soon as we started to get into more of the pull approach, pull the ball in the air, three-outcome game.

"Just every year, and I started tracking that in 2010 and started to see the decrease in average versus increase in strikeouts versus just pure number of hits. ... As far as the number of guys who get to 2,000 versus 3,000, it’s going to become even more stark.”

Los Angeles Dodgers v San Diego Padres - Source: Getty

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Freddie Freeman and Manny Machado's hitting prowess is reflected by their stats this season

Freddie Freeman and Manny Machado are having standout seasons. As Mike Schildt said, they are arguably the best at regularly getting hits at the plate, and that is backed up by their stats this year.

2022 Gatorade All-Star Workout Day - Source: Getty

Freeman leads the NL in batting average, with .363, while Manny Machado is third, with .317. Dodgers catcher Will Smith is second at .327.