Freddie Freeman shouldn’t be playing right now. Doctors told him that recovery from his sprained ankle usually takes at least four weeks. He has been playing on the ankle for two weeks now and the results are getting worse and worse.
In the sixth inning of Friday’s game, Freeman faced three 97 mph fastballs. He made one mistake. He swung and missed the other two.
Can he still generate the power needed to be productive at work?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t had an extra base hit in a while.”
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He may not get a chance on Sunday. One of the greatest hitters of our time is struggling to hit right now. With a World Series berth there for the Dodgers on Sunday, Freeman should be on the bench.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made no commitment to keep Freeman in the lineup for Game 6 of the National League championship series. Roberts said he would discuss the matter with Freeman during Saturday’s practice at Dodger Stadium.
“I do think his swing is off,” Roberts said Friday. ‘I’m sure it’s the ankle. We’ll have that conversation, but not having him there for Game 6 is certainly an option, yes.”
Freeman wasn’t kidding that he hadn’t had an extra base hit in a while. His last: a double 22 days ago, the day he injured his ankle.
In the division series, he had four hits in 14 at-bats.
In the championship series, he has three hits in 18 at-bats.
He went hitless in five at-bats in Game 5 Friday, leaving runners on second and third base in the first inning and the bases loaded in the fourth.
He did not play in Game 4 and was removed in the eighth inning of Game 3 after Roberts said he could see Freeman working.
With the charging of an unexpected power source on Friday, the Dodgers have a patch good enough for Sunday’s lineup.
Rookie Andy Pages hit two home runs on Friday. He could remain in center field on Sunday, with the New York Mets set to start left-hander Sean Manaea.
Kiké Hernández started at second base against Manaea in Game 2. Chris Taylor started at second base against left-hander Jose Quintana in Game 4 and was able to start there on Sunday against Manaea.
Then the Dodgers would have to play Max Muncy at first base and Hernandez at third base, or vice versa.
The monotony of treating Freeman’s ankle — for hours, every day — does not guarantee healing. The treatment ensures that he can play as well as possible.
It’s not that the ankle feels much better or much worse.
It’s not like he can’t do something this week that he could do last week. It’s that he can’t do what made him an eight-time All-Star.
It is what it is, as they say.
“It’s like running a 100-meter hurdle,” Freeman said. “I keep running into the same obstacle. I run into it every time.”
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If the Dodgers bench Freeman on Sunday and win, they would have four days off before the start of the World Series. In total, that would give Freeman six days to focus on rest and treatment, rather than forcing his injured ankle to sustain one swing after another.
That could be enough to get Freeman into the starting lineup for the World Series. Maybe not. But this isn’t working, and the Dodgers need to be smart about recognizing that.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
