The Los Angeles Dodgers finished off the New York Mets in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series despite not having Freddie Freeman in their lineup for a third time this postseason.
Freeman has been impacted by a significant right ankle sprain and bone bruise suffered during the final week of the regular season. He relayed doctors informed him the severity of the injury required a recovery period of at least four weeks.
While Freeman has attempted to push through the discomfort and being limited, running recently became problematic and prompted the Dodgers’ decision to not have their All-Star first baseman play what ended up being the final game against the Mets.
By clinching the NL pennant on Sunday, the Dodgers provided Freeman an opportunity to rest for five days.
“It’s very valuable,” he said of the time off this week. “Every day that I can get off my feet and not running, and just treating this, is huge. Obviously I didn’t play in Game 6, so that was a day I didn’t have to run.
“I can still hit, I can do all that kind of stuff, it’s more of once I take that first run step, a few days ago that’s when everything flared up in my ankle. So I’m now at three straight days of not running and only treating it, so every day is going to be better.
“With all injuries, treatment, rest and time away from the initial injury only is going to be better. We’re just trying to do the best we can to get it to a spot where I’ll be ready to go on Friday. … I feel pretty good walking and feel OK hitting. It’s all the more movement, running and stuff like that.
“I wish I could give more definitive answers of what I will feel like on Friday, but I just don’t have that because I’ve never sprained an ankle before. If I had broken a wrist and I was coming back from that, I could at least give you guys exactly how I feel and what I can look forward to.
“Right now I’m on my third day of not running. Today, I’ll do Dino (Ebel) drills, I’ll hit and obviously have a full day of treatment. But I’m not going to run, because I want to get this thing calmed down as much as I possibly can to give my best self and be ready to go by Game 1. Just trying to do the best I can.”
Freeman stated multiple times he would be in the Dodgers lineup when they start the World Series against the New York Yankees.
Freddie Freeman’s ankle injury impacting swing
Freeman’s production at the plate has fallen well short of career postseason averages and expectations, and much of the attention has gone to a lack of power.
However, the 35-year-old is more concerned with the mechanics of his swing, which have been compromised because of the ankle injury.
“I kind of roll on my front foot when I hit, and it’s not able to roll right now. So just trying to work through that,” Freman said.
“Walking into the field today, I feel better than I did a couple days ago. So I feel like I’m in a good spot to do work on my swing today, work hard and hopefully be able to do that these next couple days to give myself a great chance for Game 1. … I don’t really look at power. I look at if my swing is cutting through the zone, you’ll never have power.
“My swing in Game 5, when I hit the ground, I usually go into my front foot and then turn. In Game 5, I was hitting and spinning because my ankle was not allowing me to do what I wanted to do.
“That was why it kind of led into Game 6 that I wasn’t going to play, because it was one of the first times where I felt my ankle compromise my swing. Right now, I feel pretty good that I can get into my front foot. Hopefully I can do that and have my swing. I’m just trying to hit singles. If the power comes, it comes.
“With a good swing, that’s where power comes. I just don’t have any power right now because my swing is cutting through the zone. We’ve all talked throughout the course of the year, my swing has been cutting a little bit. So just get the swing back up through the middle, and the power will come.”
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