Freddie Freeman was not with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night, and may not be for the near future after he had an incident in his shower at home in recent days.
The first baseman and reigning World Series MVP slipped in his shower and hurt his right ankle this past weekend, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed ahead of the 6-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday. The ankle is the same one that Freeman had minor surgery on in December after the team’s World Series win.
“He had a little mishap entering the shower,” Roberts said, via The Associated Press. “Kind of swelled up a bit.”
Though specifics of the injury are not yet known, it doesn’t sound too serious. Freeman was at Dodger Stadium on Sunday to receive treatment on the team’s off day. The Dodgers opened a three-game series with the Braves on Monday night before heading out on a six-game road trip this weekend.
“He feels he could go out there and play, but just let him kind of recoup today and we’ll see how he is tomorrow,” Roberts said. “For the most part, he’s always kicking and screaming [to play].”
Freeman holds a .250 batting average with four RBI and two home runs already this season with the Dodgers, who entered Monday’s game with a perfect 5-0 record. He’s 3 for 12 through three games, and he didn’t play in either of the Dodgers’ games against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo earlier this month due to a rib injury.
Freeman, now in his fourth season with the Dodgers after spending his first 12 seasons in the league with the Braves, didn’t let the ankle injury bother him during the playoffs last fall. After first tweaking his ankle on a play at first base in late September, he hit a home run in each of the first four World Series games against the New York Yankees, including a walk-off grand slam in Game 1, and then had two RBIs and a hit in their clinching Game 5 win. He then underwent the debridement surgery in December.
Kiké Hernández replaced Freeman at first in both games in the Tokyo series, and he took Freeman’s spot in the lineup again on Monday night. Even without Freeman available, the Dodgers had no issue getting past the Braves. They rolled to a 6-1 win, which included a solo Hernández shot in the sixth inning, to get to 6-0 on the year.
Read the full article here
