Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman returns to lineup, admits he needed time off
LOS ANGELES — The man who never wants to come out of the lineup, who gutted his way through last October’s playoffs and World Series with a severely sprained right ankle and torn rib cartilage, who was proud of the fact he had not been on the injured list in eight years, gave what amounted to a concession speech on Friday.
“I hate to admit it,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said with an impish grin upon being activated from the IL before the series opener against the Chicago Cubs, “but I might have needed these 10 days.”
Freeman, 35, aggravated his surgically repaired ankle when he slipped in the shower at home on March 30, an off-day after a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers.
He lobbied to play in the ensuing series against Atlanta and to join the Dodgers for a six-game road trip to Philadelphia and Washington, but the team’s medical, training and coaching staff convinced the 2024 World Series MVP that, this early in the season, it would be best to take a step back.
Freeman, who has played an average of 158 games in six full seasons since 2018 and played all 60 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, reluctantly agreed, a decision he was “very thankful for” on Friday.
“It was actually very valuable,” said Freeman, who injured his ankle in the last week of the 2024 regular season. “This is the best I’ve felt since I got hurt. Better than before the Tigers series. So this was huge. I feel really good.”
An MRI test showed some fraying of scar tissue but no structural damage in the ankle. Freeman took live batting practice this past Monday and Wednesday and said he had “no reservations” running the bases.
“I feel as free as I possibly can be now, way better than I have the last few weeks,” Freeman said. “I feel like I could steal a base.”
Not so fast, Dave Roberts said.
“No,” the Dodgers manager said, when asked if Freeman has the green light to steal a base. “It’s as red as red can be. Fire-engine red.”
Though Freeman expects to play every day moving forward, he said he will be more open to taking occasional days off to better pace himself through the season.
“I’m going to be full bore,” Freeman said, “but if the [ankle] joint is inflamed after playing five straight games, I want to be smart about it.”
Freeman has been on the injured list only four times in his 16-year career, last missing almost two months of 2017 because of a left-wrist fracture.
“It’s very weird,” Freeman said of being away from the team for a week. “Watching the games on TV, it looks really easy.”
Freeman tried to take advantage of the time at home by helping around the house, but even that proved a little awkward.
“I took the kids [4-year-olds Brandon and Max] to school on Tuesday – it turned out there was no school, it’s spring break,” Freeman said. “So I brought the kids with me here, and they both got sick and threw up in my car. But I was able to see my family for six days, so there were some positives.”
REHAB REPORT
Clayton Kershaw, who is recovering from offseason surgery on his left big toe and is not eligible to be activated from the 60-day injured list until May 17, will begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
Reliever Evan Phillips, who is recovering from a rotator-cuff tear, was scheduled to make his fourth appearance for Oklahoma City on Friday night. Roberts said Phillips must clear one more hurdle, pitching on back-to-back days next week, before being activated.
Reliever Michael Kopech is scheduled to throw off a bullpen mound this weekend for the first time since going on the IL because of a shoulder impingement on March 17 but is weeks away from a return.
ALSO
Relievers Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda and Alex Vesia, pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness, bullpen coach Josh Bard, Roberts and Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes presented Cubs reliever Ryan Brasier with his 2024 World Series championship ring before Friday night’s game. Brasier went 1-0 with a 3.54 ERA in 29 games for the Dodgers last season. … Dino Ebel was named the third-base coach for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Friday, reprising the role the Dodgers coach held in the 2023 event. Team USA will be managed again by Mark DeRosa.
UP NEXT
Cubs (RHP Ben Brown, 1-1, 7.71 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 0-0, 4.15 ERA), Saturday, 6 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM