A 'Good Listener': A's Catcher & Elk Grove High Alum Praised by Manager

Oakland A's manager Bob Melvin recently told catcher David Freitas to "get up there and get yourself a hit." 

"And he did," said Melvin, who described the Elk Grove High alum as a good listener in the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday. That story, which you can read here, notes that Freitas has gotten hits in his first three bats of preseason. 

The 2007 Thundering Herd graduate, was traded to the Oakland A's last August for cash and longtime catcher Kurt Suzuki, who went to the Washington Nationals.

He was a 15th-round draft pick for the Nationals in 2010, and has since played for the team's minor-league affiliate, "batting .271 with five home runs and 46 RBI in 78 games,"according to a press release from the A's.

Freitas played for Cosumnes River College after not being elligible to accept an offer from Loyola Marymount University, and also spent time at the University of Hawaii.

"Nobody can out-work him," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said of Freitas in 2010. "He's in the cage every day. Morning, noon and night, he's in the weight room."

Freitas is a native of Wilton.

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