Sporting KC 2019 Year in Review: Tyler Freeman

The 2019 MLS season is one Sporting Kansas City fans will be looking to forget. But with a very long offseason ahead that may not have soccer until March (assuming no MLSPA strike), we feel compelled to look back at the good and the bad from 2019. For the full list of players reviewed, head to our dedicated Year in Review page.

The Blue Testament continues our look back at 2019 with the youngest player on the roster — Tyler Freeman.

2019 MLS Stats*

Games Played (Started): 0 (0)

Minutes Played: 0

Games Suspended: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

xG (expected goals): 0.00

Positions Played: Primarily LW but some RW and CF as well.

2019 Salary: $82,749.92

Contract Through (Option Years): 2022 (2023)

*All stats from 2019 MLS regular season unless otherwise noted.

2019 USL Championship Stats

Because he played only in the USL instead of in MLS, it only seemed right to give a wider berth of stats. Apologies to Graham Smith and Gedion Zelalem who didn’t quite get this treatment.

Games Played (Started): 17 (12)

Minutes Played: 850

Games Suspended: 0

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Best Moment of 2019

In a season of limited time on the field, it’s tough to decide. I’ll say March 9, 2019. He made his professional debut against the New York Red Bulls II. The game ended in a 3-1 loss, but Freeman made the first of hopefully many appearances as a professional.

Worst Moment of 2019

Instead of a moment, I’ll highlight his lack of minutes. Despite the Swope Park Rangers being an abysmally bad team in 2019, Freeman struggled to get onto the field. He didn’t have any injuries that we were made aware of. Still he couldn’t breakthrough. He’s obviously still very young (he turns 17 in January) and has plenty of time to get going. I just can’t help but think of Brian Bliss saying he could be one of the all-time great MLS players and then he is riding the bench on a bad USL Championship team.

Interesting Stat

11. Tyler Freeman was subbed off in 11 of his 12 starts. It’s unclear if that has to do with conditioning, ineffectiveness or something else. Regardless, he’ll need to work towards playing for 90 minutes at a time if he wants to break through to the first team as Peter Vermes values being Sporting Fit. Overall, as the Swope Park Rangers improve, all the parts of the team should rise with the team in 2020.

Fan Vote: Keep, Banish or Wait

Keep: 53.5%

Banish: 15.9%

Wait: 30.6%

The “wait” category feels awfully high for a 16-year-old kid. He didn’t make his first team debut yet and people are still unsure on him. He was injured when he was signed in 2018 and he was slow breaking into Swope Park’s lineup. He’s guaranteed for three more seasons (which is longer than they’ve guaranteed other Homegrowns). Hopefully he proves his worth in 2020 whether it’s with Sporting KC II (more likely) or even with some first team appearances.