The Los Angeles Dodgers and Freddie Freeman endured a scare on Sunday when he was hit by a pitch in the left wrist and immediately came out of the game.
However, X-rays were negative and Freeman returned to the lineup the following night, not only relieved to have avoided a wrist injury but believing he found an answer to emerging from a prolonged slump.
“It’s more of I’m focused on my right ankle, the one I had surgery on, I’m more into it today than I have been,” Freeman explained before the series opener against the Minnesota Twins.
“It’s a different thought of being in your legs when you’re hitting. It’s more my front ankle. It’s helping me be on time and on top. I could hit 42 mile an hour BP today, so we’ll see how it goes in the game.”
Freeman said that notion clicked for him when he was sent a photo Sunday night of his batting stance from the World Series last year.
“I’ve been getting a lot pictures sent to me, hoping to see if we can fix it,” Freeman quipped.
“We had family day yesterday, I talked to my dad a lot. It’s more mental stuff, but I’ve had a lot of pictures. Things I talk to you guys about, do this, try that, it’s just wait until something clicks. I finally saw something that helped me click today, and I think it might work.
“I wish baseball was more of a guarantee, but I’m very happy with my work heading into the game than I have been in a long time.”
Freeman went 1-for-4 with one strikeout and a double as the Dodgers snapped their three-game losing streak. While it wasn’t an overly productive night, his swings appeared to be more in line with expectations.
The nine-time All-Star has been slightly improved over the past week or so, and believes refined mechanics will further aid his turnaround effort.
“It’s a thing I had to do when I came back after I went on the IL at the beginning of the year to make sure I could be into my ankle when I hit,” Freeman recalled. “As I was thinking about it, and I saw my stance in the World Series from a picture that was sent to me, I was like, ‘That looks like I’m more in my front ankle.’
“So I didn’t sleep very much last night because I was thinking about it, and I came here and I’ve been working on it. It’s been a line drive pretty much every time today, so I’m feeling pretty confident in it.”
Freddie Freeman reflects on approach
Freeman denied protecting against getting into his right ankle earlier this year and said the longevity of the season sometimes causes players to shift away from what works for them.
“I just think ebbs and flow of a season, you get away from how you stand and how things happen,” Freeman explained. “When I was going good at the end of April and first week of May, I could walk into the box and just stand there, and you feel good.
“You swing and hit the ball hard. It just happens. Next thing you know, you’re not hitting the ball hard, and you start going in and try to find something. I probably wasn’t in my ankle during that time, and you get away from it just because it happens.
“Swinging the bat every day, things are different. I don’t know if it’s going to work. I don’t. But I feel good with my work going into the game. I haven’t thought about being into my front ankle in probably six weeks. That’s not a thought I’ve been trying to do to fix what’s been going on, so I’ve got high hopes. We’ll see if it works.”
Freeman was in the midst of arguably his best season before cooling off. In 41 games since June 1 he is hitting just .200/.275/.284 with 10 doubles, one home run and 11 RBI.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
