Freddie Freeman was out of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Tuesday for the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles due to the hairline fracture in his right middle finger.
Freeman first jammed his finger and sustained the injury while fielding a ground ball in the sixth inning at Busch Field Aug. 17. He has remained in the Dodgers lineup for the most part, but manager Dave Roberts wanted to give Freeman an extra day off, paired with the break in the schedule on Monday.
“He’s doing fine,” Roberts said. “I just felt that the finger is fractured, the middle finger at the end of it. He wants to be in there, understandably. So just kind of thinking through it, potentially giving it a chance to calm down.
“I think each day can only help, not having to prepare each day to hit. So I think just where we’re at right now, I just don’t want this thing to linger. And so if we can kind of get it to calm down, we’ll get a better spot.”
Roberts added there have not been any conversations about a potential stint on the injured list for Freeman because the fracture wouldn’t heal over a 10-day period. However, the All-Star could miss more games in the Orioles series.
“There’s a chance, but I still think that having him potentially available off the bench makes sense,” Roberts said. “We’ll see what that looks like each day though, and we’ll kind of read and react.”
Freeman is just 3-for-23 in six games since suffering the fracture.
“I think it’s part of it,” Roberts said of sitting Freeman’s struggles being factored into giving him a break.
“I think that for me, it just doesn’t look the same. But hitting is hard. That could be a separate point, and it could not be because of the finger. Freddie could argue that, which is completely fine. But I still believe that giving it some time to kind of calm down and not be inflamed, there’s only benefit.”
While Freeman has made it a priority to play every day, and argued to remain in the Dodgers lineup, Roberts said the 34-year-old was accepting of the decision to give him extra rest.
“I think he understands,” the skipper said. “He wants to play well, everybody knows what he means to ballclub, being able to post, be in the lineup, all that stuff matters.
“But also, it still matters to feel good, that your swing feels good. And again, I just don’t think that taking a couple days off, whatever the days it ends up being, is going to be too costly. I really don’t.”
Kiké Hernández starting with Freddie Freeman out
Kiké Hernández was given the start at first base with Freeman out, rather than Max Muncy, who has extensive history at the position. Roberts said that decision was made because it’s a short-term move.
“Muncy is our third baseman,” Roberts noted. “So in a vacuum, you could argue the other way. But for Max to go over there, he hasn’t taken ground balls over there in two years, to just say he’s playing first base doesn’t make sense.”
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