We consider the directed polymer model on $\mathbb{Z}^d$, in an i.i.d.\ random environment $ω=(ω_{n,x})_{n\geq 0,x\in\mathbb Z^d}$, focusing on the critical dimension $d=2$. Our main contribution is to give a sharp lower bound on the free energy in the high-temperature regime. Our proof uses a percolation argument inspired by Lacoin (2010), for which we introduce a key property of bounded ``$\log$-energy'': this property quantifies the regularity of the polymer measures at diffusive scales and we show that it propagates along open paths. Writing $\mathfrak{f}(β)$ for the quenched free energy, and setting $λ(β):=\log \mathbb E[e^{βω_{1,0}}]$ and $σ(β)^2:=e^{λ(2β)-2λ(β)}-1$, our lower bound combined with Theorem 2.8 of Berger, Caravenna, and Turchi (2025) gives $$ -\mathfrak{f}(β) \asymp \exp{\Big(- \fracπ{σ^2(β)}\Big)},\quad \text{ as $β\downarrow 0$.} $$