When the Los Angeles Dodgers faced Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale on Sept. 14, it came with a change to their lineup as Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández swapped spots in the batting order.
Freeman moved to the cleanup spot for the first time since 2016, whereas Hernández hit third, behind Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the Dodgers lineup.
Roberts trotted out the same look in three additional games against left-handed starting pitchers and will continue doing so for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs.
Freeman said he is on board with moving down a spot against a left-handed pitcher because it creates more favorable matchups for the Dodgers, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Doc and I talked after Friday night’s game more about going into the playoffs against left-handed starters to hit fourth so Mookie and Teo can get more at-bats against them,” Freeman said. “Obviously I was all for it. Whatever we can do to win games.
“I kinda like it. It puts them in a tough matchup because if they bring in a lefty for Shohei, that means Mookie and Teo have to face left-handed pitching. It’s tougher matchups we’re trying to create throughout the course of a game to make it harder on managers.”
Roberts believes the lineup tweak could benefit the Dodgers in October when teams tend to go to their bullpen earlier and have a plethora of left-handed pitchers at their disposal.
If an opponent brings in a southpaw to face Ohtani, that pitcher will then have to pitch Betts and Hernández before getting to Freeman due to the three-batter minimum rule.
Betts and Hernández have fared well against left-handed pitching this season, but Freeman is also having success against same-side pitching as well.
Dodgers follow Freddie Freeman
The 2024 season hasn’t been up to Freeman’s standards, though he is having a productive year even if mired in a recent slump.
Freeman broke out of that a bit on Sunday with a key RBI single. Following the Dodgers’ comeback win, Roberts remarked that he believes the team follows Freeman’s emotional lead and draws on his energy.
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