David Freitas

David Joseph Freitas

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 225 lb.
• School Cosumnes River College, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
• High School Elk Grove High School
• Debut August 30, 2017
• Final Game September 29, 2019
• Born March 18, 1989 in Wilton, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

David Freitas is a catcher who made his big league debut in 2017.

Freitas was an All-American catcher in junior college at Cosumnes River College. Transferring to the University of Hawaii, he hit .292/.389/.472 with 10 homers and 49 RBI in 60 games in 2010. He led the Western Athletic Conference with eight sacrifice hits. He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 15th round of the 2010 amateur draft.

Freitas made his professional debut in 2010 with the Vermont Lake Monsters, hitting an excellent .307/.408/.450 in 62 games, hitting 19 doubles and 4 homers. He tied for third in the New York-Penn League in doubles and was in the top 5 in OBP. He tied for 10th with 40 RBI. He moved to the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League in 2011, where he hit .288/.409/.450 in 123 games. His outstanding batting eye was on display again, with 82 walks, on top of his 30 doubles, 13 homers and 73 RBI. He led the SAL in walks and catcher fielding percentage (.996) and was second in OBP. Evan Gattis beat him out as the league's All-Star catcher.

2012 saw him with the Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League, where he played 78 games, during which he hit .271/.374/.407. On August 3rd, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in return for their major league starter, Kurt Suzuki. He then hit .333/.392/.524 in 20 games for the Midland RockHounds. He started the 2013 season back with Midland, where he hit only .214 in 61 games, with 9 homers and 21 RBIs. He also got his first shot at AAA that season, playing 29 games with the Sacramento RiverCats of the Pacific Coast League, where he hit .268. Between the two stops, his batting line was .231/.306/.368 in 90 games, with 14 doubles, 10 homers and 30 RBIs.

On December 12, 2013, after the completion of the 2013 Rule V Draft, he was sent to the Baltimore Orioles as the player to be named later with 2B Jemile Weeks in return for closer Jim Johnson. He was then selected by the Chicago Cubs in the minor league portion of the 2015 Rule V Draft, then signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves after the 2016 season.

Freitas made his major league debut starting the second game of a doubleheader behind the plate for the Braves against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 30, 2017. He went 1 for 3, with his first major league hit, a double off Mark Leiter in the 4th, driving in the go-ahead run in what turned out to be a 9-1 win. He went 1 for 3 and also scored a run in addition to driving one in. He went 4 for 17 in 6 games in his first taste of the majors. After the season, on October 27th, he was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners. He spent the 2018 season shuttling between Seattle and the AAA Tacoma Rainiers, being called up to the Show on four separate occasions. In 36 games for the Mariners, he hit .215 with 1 homer and 5 RBIs. With Tacoma, he hit .349 in 39 games , with 4 homers and 23 RBIs.

In 2019, Freitas led the Pacific Coast League with a .381 batting average for the San Antonio Missions when he was called up by the parent Milwaukee Brewers on September 1st to provide a boost during the pennant race. The Brewers had obtained him on April 14th in a trade with the Mariners, ceding P Sal Biasi in return. He had gone 0 for 2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly in his only game for Seattle and had also played briefly for Tacoma before the trade.

Related Sites

• David Freitas on mlb.com
• BR Minors page