Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman could be back this month

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves may be close to getting their starting first baseman back.

Freddie Freeman, on the disabled list since June 18 with a right wrist contusion, resumed baseball activities Monday, hitting some balls off the tee and others with soft toss.

"We'll get a plan in place to get him out (on a rehab assignment), get him some at-bats and get him some games under his belt," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "How many games or at-bats we'll figure out."

Freeman will be re-evaluated Tuesday, and he could report to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League for some rehab play. The Braves remain hopeful that Freeman could play again before the end of the month.

Freeman missed his 27th game on Monday night, a 7-5 Atlanta win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. His absence definitely is hurting the team's offensive production. The Braves are 12-15 without Freeman and have scored a total of 76 runs (2.8 per game).

Before going on the DL, Freeman was batting .299 with a team-leading 41 RBIs, 12 home runs and 20 doubles. The team was averaging 4.0 runs per game over the first 76 games, with Freeman appearing in all of them.

Freeman was in a groove at the time he was hurt, hitting .328 in the first 16 games in June.