The Los Angeles Dodgers received unusually encouraging injury news on Tuesday, as two-way star Shohei Ohtani resumed hitting activities and first baseman Freddie Freeman turned in a three-hit performance that earned him another spot in the lineup.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters before the team’s game against the Cincinnati Reds that Ohtani “felt good” after taking swings off a tee in Los Angeles on Monday. Roberts stopped short of promising Ohtani would return from the injured list before the regular season ends, but said that remains the team’s expectation for now.
“Today was positive, and hopefully we can just keep building towards that,” Roberts said.
Freeman, meanwhile, not only returned to the lineup Tuesday night in a win over the Reds but delivered a three-hit game that he said “played myself in” to Wednesday’s lineup.
Roberts had initially planned to rest Freeman on Wednesday as the 37-year-old continues managing a right knee injury. That would have been his fourth missed game in the last seven. But Freeman made a deal with his manager earlier in the night.
“He was joking, saying, ‘If I get three hits, then can I be in there tomorrow?'” Roberts recounted.
Freeman delivered, lining singles in the first, fifth and seventh innings to snap a 3-for-30 slump.
“It looked good,” Roberts said. “It looked more like Freddie.”
Freeman said he felt no pain from the patellar tendinitis in his knee and credited a swing adjustment he made before the game. He said he had been letting the ball travel too far in his stance, causing him to “slide” in the box with a compromised front leg. He is now focused on getting his front leg down sooner and catching the ball further out front.
“I feel like my faults are I try to hit the ball to the opposite field too much, and I let the ball get too deep,” Freeman said. “So today was [get the] foot down early, catch the ball out front a little bit, and it kind of worked. I wasn’t squaring the ball up in the game, but I’ll take those three hits and keep that work going tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll get hot.”
Freeman said the change is not meant to be permanent. “I’m not trying to find something that’s sustainable,” he said. “I’m trying to find something that works for four weeks.”
Between Freeman’s night at the plate and Ohtani’s progress, the Dodgers say they have reason for cautious optimism about both stars contributing to a playoff run.
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