LOS ANGELES — They wore black T-shirts commemorating their return to the Nationwide League Championship Sequence and congregated in entrance of the Dodger Stadium pitcher’s mound Friday evening, in prime place for a group {photograph}. Nevertheless it shortly grew to become clear that somebody was lacking. And so roughly 70 members of the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers — gamers, coaches, trainers, docs, clubbies — chanted for him in unison.
Fre-ddie! Fre-ddie! Fre-ddie!
Freddie Freeman emerged from an interview and hobbled over, lifting each arms to the sky earlier than plopping down in entrance of them.
Fifteen days earlier, Freeman had suffered an ankle sprain that ought to have stored him out for as many as six weeks. He returned in just a little a couple of, in some way taking 12 at-bats and enjoying 29 defensive innings to assist the Dodgers vanquish their hated rivals, the San Diego Padres, within the division collection. Each prep step was the results of a laborious pregame routine that always ran the emotional gamut. Each swing certified as a near-miracle.
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“It is exhausting to place into phrases, precisely, what it meant to see Freddie doing that,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy mentioned. “Virtually offers you chills just a little bit.”
Freeman turned himself right into a modern-day iron man, enjoying in 99% of his video games during the last 5 years, by mastering the features inside his management. If he may hone in on a sound routine and by no means waver from it, Freeman thought, he’d decrease the unpredictability round him. The 2024 season — beset by fluky accidents and household trauma —broke down all of that. And but Freeman regularly discovered a method, most notably in October, whereas hobbling towards a .353 batting common by means of the primary six video games of those playoffs.
The Dodgers, who had spent a complete season navigating a litany of starting-pitcher accidents, knew they wanted Freeman’s presence of their lineup. They later realized they wanted to channel his mindset. Their previous two seasons had adopted the identical disheartening script — win the NL West, safe a first-round bye, get trounced within the division collection by an inferior division rival — and left them looking for an edge in these playoffs.
In some ways, Freeman’s indomitable will offered it.
“Whenever you see him, you understand he is bought damaged bones in every single place and he can barely f—ing stroll, and he is on the market making performs, stealing bases — they only do not make them like him anymore,” Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux mentioned. “He is totally different, man. He is a distinct breed. All of us see him on the market competing his ass off, although he can barely stroll, and it simply makes us compete even more durable.”
IT’S NOT IN Freeman’s nature to take day off. In an period when athletes’ exertion ranges are carefully monitored, typically dictating relaxation days amid arduous baseball seasons, Freeman adheres to the mantra of enjoying each day — regardless of how damage he may be, how lengthy his stoop would possibly endure. It was ingrained in him by his father, who watched his spouse lose her life to melanoma and nonetheless summoned the energy to, in Freeman’s phrases, “present as much as work each single day.”
“My job is to play baseball,” Freeman, 35, mentioned earlier this season. “That is how I used to be raised. That is what my job is. You do it each single day, regardless of the circumstances.”
This yr, that philosophy was examined like by no means earlier than.
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It began on July 22, when Freeman’s 3-year-old son, Max, instantly couldn’t stroll. 4 days later, Freeman flew out of Houston and rushed to the emergency room at Kids’s Hospital of Orange County, the place he discovered Max on a ventilator. Max had been recognized with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a situation during which the physique’s immune system assaults its nerves, inflicting weak point, numbness and paralysis.
Freeman spent the following 9 days away from the group, throughout which his younger son made a miraculous restoration after two rounds of immunotherapy. Max was discharged on Aug. 3 and commenced bodily remedy the next day. Freeman returned to the group on Aug. 5 and was nonetheless noticeably emotional. He did not understand how he’d deal with coming again, however he had consolation.
“Understanding your son is OK,” Freeman mentioned then, “that helps.”
Twelve days later, whereas fielding a grounder at first base in St. Louis, Freeman suffered a nondisplaced fracture of his proper center finger. He missed the subsequent sport, then went on a 3-for-23 stretch from Aug. 19 to 25, wanting dangerous sufficient that Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts satisfied him to sit down out a three-game collection in opposition to the Baltimore Orioles. He returned on Aug. 30 and posted an .842 OPS over his subsequent 25 video games.
Then, on the evening of Sept. 26 — in the identical sport that noticed the Dodgers safe the NL West — he landed awkwardly on his proper foot whereas trying to keep away from a tag by Padres first baseman Luis Arráez. Abruptly his season was in jeopardy at its most crucial juncture.
“The final couple of months have been rather a lot,” Freeman mentioned. “I believe that might be sort of an understatement.”
AT FIRST, FREEMAN was optimistic. His proper ankle had initially swelled “like a grapefruit” and necessitated a strolling boot, however Freeman left the Dodgers’ regular-season house finale assured he’d be a full participant within the playoffs. His hope progressively elevated over the following week. And when he met with the media the afternoon earlier than Recreation 1 of the NLDS, he deemed his ankle “ok.”
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Then one thing modified. Freeman, he mentioned, “awoke feeling sore.” When he left his home the next morning, he checked out his 8-year-old son, Charlie, and advised him, “I do not know if Daddy’s going to have the ability to play at this time.”
When he arrived on the ballpark an hour later, his temper was noticeably somber.
“He was very damaging,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández mentioned. “He felt actually dangerous.”
Dodgers gamers have been advised there was a 1% probability Freeman would play of their postseason opener. However then he went by means of hours of remedy and began to really feel higher. He went into the batting cage to hit off a tee and take some flips, then went onto the sector for mild baserunning and defensive drills and have become extra hopeful. He nonetheless wanted to see how his physique would deal with velocity, so he confronted the Dodgers’ Trajekt Arc, a preferred pitching simulator, and began to spray line drives. “I can do that,” he advised himself.
At that time, barely two hours earlier than the primary pitch, he inserted himself into the lineup. Miguel Rojas, the veteran shortstop who was enjoying by means of a tear in his adductor muscle, known as it “a borderline miracle.” When Freeman scorched a 109 mph single in his first at-bat, then a 101 mph single and a stolen base in his second, it grew to become one thing extra: inspiration, the kind a few of his teammates had been making an attempt to harness since their championship-winning season from 4 years in the past.
“We had a saying in 2020 once we gained,” Muncy mentioned after Recreation 1. “Guys have been going on the market saying, ‘I am ready to die on the market at this time.’ Clearly it is metaphorical, however that is sort of that mentality we’re making an attempt to take into this yr. Nothing ought to maintain us again on the market. Freddie proved that tonight. And whenever you see him do stuff like that — he will get the hits, he makes performs, steals a bag — you are kinda like, ‘OK, he is prepared for it.’ It undoubtedly sends a message to the dugout that, ‘Hey, it would not matter what your title is; it would not matter who you’re. You higher be prepared to do no matter it takes to play this sport.’ It is a huge message.”
FREEMAN’S RECOVERY HASN’T adopted a linear path. The extra he performs, Freeman mentioned, the extra sore his proper ankle turns into. For each sport this month, he has arrived seven hours earlier than the primary pitch, gone by means of 4 to 5 hours of remedy, stepped onto the sector for a collection of high-knees and near-sprints, placed on a glove for an assortment of defensive drills — fielding grounders, overlaying first base, pivoting and throwing to second — then disappeared into the tunnel to hit. Solely then, in spite of everything these proverbial packing containers have been checked, can he declare himself prepared.
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Then he does it yet again.
“Day-after-day it appears to begin at proper the place I used to be the day prior to this,” Freeman mentioned. “It is sort of exhausting to play by means of it as a result of it by no means goes away. It sort of retains getting worse.”
Along with the sprain, Freeman mentioned, he has developed a bone bruise on the within a part of his ankle “from the bones smacking one another” when he initially rolled it. In latest days, Roberts has additionally alluded to soreness manifesting in Freeman’s proper aspect. Given the presence of Shohei Ohtani, taking a partial break by serving because the designated hitter is not an possibility. If Freeman desires to be within the lineup, he should play the sector.
“It is a battle,” he mentioned. “It’s what it’s.”
Roberts’ pregame interview classes have captured the volatility. “We’ll see” was Roberts’ response when requested about Freeman’s availability in Recreation 1. For Recreation 2, he mentioned inserting Freeman within the lineup was a “a lot simpler” choice — solely to take away him after 5 innings. Requested earlier than Recreation 3 if Freeman was “nonetheless a go,” Roberts checked out his watch and mentioned, “It is a go for now.” A query about Freeman’s ankle earlier than Recreation 4 prompted a chuckle from Roberts. “It is simply OK,” he mentioned, earlier than scratching him an hour later.
The uncertainty will comply with for as lengthy the Dodgers’ postseason run lasts. It’d take a complete offseason earlier than Freeman actually feels proper once more. Till then, each day can be a wrestle. Day-after-day can be a combat.
The ambiance, the stakes, are fueling him.
“Once I get right here,” he mentioned, “the power degree drives me to do every little thing I can.”
IT WAS DURING a group breakfast the morning earlier than Recreation 4 that Freeman and the Dodgers’ coaching workers determined he wouldn’t be accessible with their season on the brink (inserting him within the lineup and later scratching him was merely an act of “gamesmanship,” Freeman acknowledged). “We bought you,” a lot of his teammates advised him then.
Two days later, earlier than the winner-take-all Recreation 5, Freeman returned the message.
“Don’t fret, guys,” Muncy recalled him saying. “I bought you tonight.”
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However the ankle was not cooperating, even after two days off. Freeman mimicked overlaying first base throughout pregame exercises, felt a twinge in his proper ankle and practically slammed a baseball onto the bottom in frustration. An extended dialog with Roberts, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and a few the group’s trainers prompted Freeman to enter Dodger Stadium’s left-field bullpen for extra motion workout routines. He finally discovered a placement together with his foot that might enable him to cowl first base with out ache. Roughly 90 minutes earlier than first pitch, Freeman walked into Roberts’ workplace. “I can go,” he mentioned.
“I had just a little smile on my face,” Roberts mentioned, “as a result of definitely with the place he is been, it has been dicey.”
The sixth inning offered the largest take a look at. The Dodgers led by solely a run with none on, one out and the red-hot Fernando Tatís Jr. on deck when Arráez hit a ball comparatively far to Freeman’s proper. Freeman whispered self-motivation. You gotta get there, he advised himself. You gotta get there. Freeman did, stopping the grounder and throwing to Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips to safe an out. Seconds later, 4 of the Dodgers’ infielders gathered round Phillips close to the mound. Freeman was the one one who stayed again.
“All of us have been proper there and we mentioned, ‘Hey, that is for Freddie,'” Muncy recalled. “We needed to give Freddie a breather.”
STOPPING OFF A useless dash stays Freeman’s most troublesome process. It confirmed in Sunday’s first inning, when he lumbered round third base to attain the second run off Muncy’s base hit and collapsed into the arms of Mookie Betts, who hoped for merely a high-five.
“I am solely 170 kilos,” Betts mentioned. “He is a giant dude. Fortunately I elevate weights.”
Freeman, together with his proper shoe wrapped in athletic tape like a defensive lineman’s, reached base 3 times within the Dodgers’ 9-0 win over the New York Mets in Recreation 1 of the NLCS. He drew a stroll within the first inning, lined a base hit to proper subject within the third and added a run-scoring single to left subject within the fourth, his sixth hit in 16 at-bats.
The Dodgers now face their first fast turnaround of those playoffs, a Sunday evening Recreation 1 spilling right into a Monday afternoon Recreation 2 in opposition to lefty Sean Manaea. After an off day Tuesday, the collection shifts to New York for 3 straight video games. Monday, then, can be the right time for the left-handed-hitting Freeman to sit down. However that gave the impression to be the furthest factor from Roberts’ thoughts when he addressed the media after the sport.
“My expectation,” Roberts mentioned, “is that he’ll be in there till I hear in any other case.”
Earlier than the decisive sport of the NLDS, Freeman personally thanked every member of the Dodgers’ coaching workers for getting him able to play. After Recreation 1 on Sunday, he joked that he and Bernard Li, the bodily therapist who has overseen his remedy, would possibly simply need to sleep within the Dodgers’ clubhouse to get him prepared for a 1:08 p.m. PT begin the next day.
All that point within the coach’s room has made Freeman take up crossword puzzles, a typical interest for the Atlanta Braves’ veteran gamers when he first arrived within the huge leagues. For as a lot as his physique would possibly damage lately, his thoughts is comfortable. Max is strolling once more, regularly progressing. Watching him undergo his sickness, Freeman mentioned, “put every little thing in perspective for me.” Within the grand scheme, he believes, no matter ails his ankle is nothing.
However the Dodgers are gaining energy from it.
“He is sacrificing well being to discover a method to be on the sector,” Roberts mentioned. “After which whenever you sacrifice something, it makes what you are sacrificing for extra essential.”
