Alex Freeland has started to find his groove at the plate after a somewhat slow start since being called up to make his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of July.
After seeing his season stat line drop to .167/.314/.167 on Aug. 6, Freeland has since raised it up to .228/.353/.351 with six hits in his last 15 at-bats, including three extra-base hits.
Freeland hit a double and triple in the series finale against the Colorado Rockies, and then in the series opener against the San Diego Padres, slugged his first career home run. Making it all the more notable was Freeland’s homer came off Yu Darvish, who otherwise shut down the Dodgers.
“Super unreal,” Freeland said of the home run. “I could barely feel the ground, so it was pretty cool.”
Freeland homered on a 2-1 hanging sweeper, and after the ball left his bat at 106.3 mph, it traveled 394 feet to right field.
“Just looking out over (the plate), and he threw it out over, so went on it,” he said of the successful at-bat against Darvish.
That swing put the Dodgers up 1-0 and increased their win probability by 12.1% to 59.6%. Unfortunately, that was the only hit the Dodgers had until the ninth inning, and they ended up losing 2-1 to the Padres.
“Yeah, it’s bittersweet,” Freeland said. “It’s cool I hit my first career home run, but the only thing I really care about is winning the game, and we didn’t win.”
Freeland said the Dodgers were able to get the home run ball back for him, but he had not yet received it after the game when talking to reporters.
Alex Freeland enjoying time with Dodgers
Freeland was drafted by the Dodgers in 2022 in the third round, 105th overall. Since then, he developed into not just one of the Dodgers’ top prospects, but also one of the highest-ranked in MLB.
The Dodgers have relied on him to play nearly every day while Max Muncy, Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Kiké Hernández are on the injured list, and that has put Freeland in some important games already.
With the Dodgers and Padres battling it out for the National League West lead, it’s created somewhat of a playoff-feel every game, and that’s something the 23-year-old has enjoyed.
“For me, it’s pretty fun,” Freeland said. “I like this kind of atmosphere, so I enjoy these kind of games.”
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