Alex Freeland made his Major League debut last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, appearing in 29 games while the team dealt with various injuries.
Freeland enters the 2026 season as the Dodgers’ No. 8-ranked prospect after a strong performance with Triple-A Oklahoma City last year. The 24-year-old hit .263/.384/.451 with 30 doubles, 16 home runs and an impressive 16.3% walk percentage.
At the start of camp, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts named him as one potential option to fill in for the injured Tommy Edman to start the season.
Freeland has made the most of his opportunity to show off his unique skillset, reaching base 11 times in 24 plate appearances. His time on defense has been split evenly heading into Thursday, with 20 innings each at shortstop and second base.
He and Miguel Rojas have been getting the bulk of the work in the middle of the infield, with Hyeseong Kim participating in the WBC and Mookie Betts appearing in his first game on March 1.
With some of the starters away and being slow played, Freeland said he is trying to make the most of the opportunity he has been given, according to Jack Vita of the L.A. Times:
“Opportunity is present, so I’m trying to make the most of it,” Freeland said. “It sucks that Tommy’s not ready and he won’t be ready for the beginning of the season. He’s a big part of this team, so I wish him a super speedy recovery and I hope that he gets out there as quickly as possible. But yeah, with Hyeseong being gone, I am getting more reps at second and short, so I’m just trying to make the most of them.”
While Freeland doesn’t have a ton of his to his name in the scorebook, his process at the plate has been good. Of the 13 balls he has put in play heading into Thursday, just three have an exit velocity below 83.9 mph. He has hit seven balls at 93.7 mph or above, including four above 100 mph (rounding up a 99.5 mph exit velo from Feb. 24 against the Cleveland Guardians).
The switch-hitter has things he wants to continue to work on at the plate in Spring Training and into the regular season, but he is satisfied with how he has played to his strengths so far:
“My right-handed hitting could be better,” Freeland said. “I mean, part of my game is walking, so I felt like I wasn’t patient at the right times last year. Sometimes I was too patient, just taking pitches down the middle. Walking is a big part of my game, so I’m looking to walk, and I feel like I’ve done that this spring training.”
Freeland’s eight walks are tied with Riley Unroe of the Houston Astros for the most in the Cactus League and Grapefruit League.
Dodgers don’t expect Tommy Edman to play in Cactus League
Edman is recovering from a debridement procedure on his right ankle that addressed the trouble he encountered in parts of the last two seasons with the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals.
Edman continues to make progress as he recently started taking batting practice again, but isn’t expected to play in any Cactus League games this spring
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