LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman dealt together with his justifiable share of aches and pains within the first half. However these days, not a lot has bothered the star first baseman greater than his swing.
That even rang true Sunday, when Freeman took an 88 mph sinker off his left wrist and eliminated himself from the Dodgers’ loss to the Brewers. The crew breathed a sigh of aid when Freeman’s X-rays got here again unfavourable, however there was nonetheless some query of whether or not he’d really feel nicely sufficient to play the next day.
Freeman wasn’t preoccupied together with his wrist. He spent the evening occupied with his swing.
On Monday morning, Freeman wakened feeling good and let supervisor Dave Roberts know that he could be within the beginning lineup for the collection opener in opposition to the Twins.
“He’s doing nicely,” Roberts mentioned. “Sore, however [he] feels that him being within the lineup, we’re higher for it, and he’s not going to be compromised so far as any form of additional damage from it.”
Freeman felt even higher as soon as he acquired to Dodger Stadium and felt his swing click on for the primary time shortly. He had beforehand mentioned that his swing hadn’t felt fairly proper since mid-Could. The disconnect is mirrored in his manufacturing, as Freeman entered Monday hitting .199 with a .553 OPS since June 1.
When Freeman was hit on Sunday, it was the way in which he reacted that raised probably the most concern for the Dodgers. It was uncharacteristic conduct for Freeman, who would usually moderately play by means of discomfort than exit a sport, to stroll towards the house dugout instantly after being hit.
“There’s boring ache,” Freeman mentioned. “Clearly, I simply acquired hit on the bone in my wrist, so it isn’t gonna really feel good. However it was extra of I acquired hit, and it is the identical wrist I broke, so I figured it was gonna flare up and swell, which it did. However we instantly acquired it down.”
After Sunday’s sport, Freeman noticed an image of his batting stance from final 12 months’s World Collection. He had checked out a variety of photographs whereas making an attempt to repair his swing, however one thing clicked when he noticed this explicit picture and realized he was extra “in” his entrance ankle, the one he had surgically repaired this previous offseason.
Freeman was so anxious to do this new cue, he mentioned, that he did not sleep very nicely as a result of he was making an attempt to guarantee that he would keep in mind it within the morning. It is much like a tweak he made earlier this season, when he returned from the 10-day injured listing after aggravating his proper ankle.
“It is a completely different considered being in your legs once you’re hitting,” Freeman mentioned. “It is simply extra into my entrance ankle, so it is serving to me be on time and on high. And I might hit 42 mph BP at this time, so we’ll see the way it goes within the sport.”
