Freddie Freeman will not be in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Friday for the second game of the series against the Milwaukee Brewers. It is a scheduled day off for Freeman and not related to his fall into the dugout on Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been giving his star players days off throughout the week. Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández each had a day off before Mookie Betts was out of the lineup on Thursday. Freeman was in the lineup for the series opener against the Brewers, the day after falling into the dugout.
The scary incident occurred in the eighth inning of the finale against the Royals as Freeman attempted to catch a foul ball popped up near the dugout. As Freeman was looking up in the air, he kept moving toward the dugout and ended up falling down the stairs.
Freeman said he had overall body soreness after, but he was extremely lucky to avoid a more serious injury.
Freddie Freeman updates
What did the Royals say?
After Freeman fell into the dugout, Royals trainers and a few of their players came over to him, while Miguel Rojas also rushed down the stairs.
“All the Royals were just like, ‘lay down, lay down!’ It’s like, well, let me get up and see if I fall back down,” Freeman said after Wednesday’s game. “Because I was lying, there’s another staircase that goes into their clubhouse, and I think that’s what kind of saved me. I landed on that, and that’s what gave leeway for my head.
“When I fell, I fell onto the other staircase, so that kind of helped not hit my head on anything. So I really didn’t want to lay at an angle and wait for our trainers to get there. So I just got up, and I was sore immediately, but I had adrenaline flowing.”
How did Freeman play Thursday?
Even after the fall, Freeman said he hoped to be in the lineup for the series opener against the Brewers the following day. He underwent treatment and his status was determined by how he felt the following day.
“He just text me [Thursday] morning and said he was good to go, a little sore, but won’t compromise his performance,” Roberts said before Thursday’s game. “Which was encouraging.”
Freeman has a reputation as one of MLB’s iron men, and he hopes to never miss a game. He often pushes back when Roberts wants to give him a day off, and playing while sore was not going to keep him out of the lineup.
“I think it’s one of those things where Freddie is just of the mind that he doesn’t give himself an out,” Roberts said. “He’s played through worse, and he signed up to play. There’s just no other option. So even for me, convincing him that [Friday] is a good day to take off was not easy.”
Freeman sets bar for Dodgers
Roberts also credited Freeman’s leadership on the team and determination to continue playing even when he’s dealing with injuries or not at his best.
“It makes everybody around him better,” Roberts said. “You’re not always going to feel your best, but you still have to have that ability to be out there. When you have Freddie, or Mookie, Will Smith, or Kyle Tucker who has been going through it all year, it’s still a presence in the lineup.
“He understands that and he makes other people understand that as well.”
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