Ailing Freeman may sit Game 6, ‘swing not right’

Jeff Passan, ESPNOct 18, 2024, 10:15 PM ET

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NEW YORK — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts left open the possibility of sitting Freddie Freeman for Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, saying “his swing is not right” due to the ankle injury that has hampered the first baseman all postseason.

The 35-year-old Freeman, who severely sprained his right ankle Sept. 26, returned to the Dodgers’ lineup in their Game 5 loss Friday to the New York Mets after missing the series’ fourth game. Freeman went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts in the cleanup spot, one place below his typical No. 3 spot in Los Angeles’ batting order.

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“I’m going to have a conversation with him [Saturday],” Roberts said. “But I do think that his swing is not right. I’m certain it’s the ankle. We’ll have that conversation, but it’s certainly an option to not have him in there for Game 6.”

After logging a pair of hits, scoring a run and driving in another in the Dodgers’ Game 1 victory, Freeman has struggled. He is 1 for his last 15 and hasn’t walked. In the entire postseason, he is hitting .219/.242/.219 with seven singles, one walk, six strikeouts and no extra-base hits in 33 plate appearances.

When Freeman sat out Game 4, the Dodgers moved Max Muncy from third base to first base, Kiké Hernández from center field to third and played Andy Pages — who homered twice Friday in the Dodgers’ 12-6 loss that sent the series back to Los Angeles — in center field. Los Angeles still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

Freeman, an eight-time All-Star and former NL MVP, spends hours before every game getting treatment on the ankle. During his pregame routine at Citi Field on Friday, he was grimacing as he tried to prepare the ankle to play.

After lining out to first base with runners on second and third in the first inning, Freeman grounded out to first, struck out looking, struck out swinging and flied out to center field.

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