Freddie Freeman played through multiple injuries during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ run to winning the 2024 World Series, including a right ankle sprain that he sustained during the final week of the regular season.
Although he appeared limited at times, Freeman still produced at an elite level and managed to play in 13 of the Dodgers’ 16 postseason games.
The 35-year-old underwent right ankle surgery in early December, which came six weeks after the Dodgers won the World Series.
Freeman said he initially put off the operation because of a belief his ankle would heal with rest.
“I’ve been asked why I waited so long to have the surgery. During the World Series, I was feeling pretty good,” Freeman began. “I felt like my ankle was in a good spot. I didn’t limp at all — at least in my mind. When I’m healthy it looks like I’m limping because I don’t run very fast.
“I thought I was in a good spot, P.T. (physical therapy) and rest, I’ll be good to go. About three weeks after the World Series ended, I was in Georgia doing Thanksgiving, and swelling wasn’t going away in my ankle. I felt something was just not right, so that’s when I text Thomas Albert, our head trainer, and said, ‘When I get home, let’s get this looked at.’
“So I got home on the 30th of November, and December 1st, I had my MRI. About 10 minutes after that MRI ending they were like, ‘You need surgery.’ That’s why it took a little bit longer, just because of how I felt in the World Series, I thought rest would be good.”
While necessitating ankle surgery came as somewhat of a surprise, Freeman was relieved to learn the procedure was not as serious as it could’ve been.
“So we went in there and cleaned it up. When they went in, they didn’t know if they were going to have to repair some of the ligaments because I had torn some of my ligaments as well in my ankle. It was quite a nasty injury I had,” Freeman said.
“Luckily, in those four weeks, the ligaments and tendons had healed enough where they didn’t have to fix them. They went in, I had chipped off a part of my cartilage and it floated all the way to the Achilles, so that was one of the things they had to do. And they shaved some spurs down, shaved some bones down.”
Freddie Freeman limited to start Spring Training
Freeman said he will likely be limited at the start of Spring Training, but is confident in his ability to be ready for the Tokyo Series.
“Two days ago it was eight weeks from my surgery, and I hit for the first time. I felt good and I hit again [Friday],” he explained. “I’m feeling pretty good. I recovered well today. I have not started running yet; haven’t been cleared to do that.
“But as of next week, on Monday, I start (hitting) flips. I think by the end of next week we’ll start doing some side-to-sides movement-wise. I think by the time I get to Spring Training, because I’m going to stay here all next week to continue my rehab, I should be full-bore hitting-wise.
“Taking batting practice with the guys, being able to do live BPs, but I don’t think I will be in the games at the beginning. I’ll just DH. We don’t have one, so I’ll just DH.
“The beauty of it is if Shohei is in the main game, I can go to the backfields and get at-bats. It looks like I’m going to start a running progression when I get to Spring Training. As of right now I am on track to be able to play in Tokyo.”
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