DENVER — As he hobbled across the field at Dodger Stadium to talk to reporters on Thursday night, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman wore three notable things.
A walking boot. A National League West championship T-shirt. And, most importantly in the wake of his ankle injury in that night’s division-clinching win, a relieved and grateful smile.
“It’s like a grapefruit,” Freeman said of the swelling in his sprained, but not broken, right ankle. “But they’re pretty optimistic that I should be able to go by Saturday in the playoffs. That’s what I’m banking on.”
A day later, the Dodgers seemed confident in that possibility, as well.
When the team filed out of its Champagne-soaked clubhouse Thursday and headed to the airport for a late-night flight to Denver, where they will finish the regular season with a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies, Freeman stayed back in Southern California.
Even though postgame X-rays on his ankle were negative, he and the team decided it wouldn’t be wise to subject him to two flights for a series he likely wouldn’t have played in anyway.
Instead, Freeman will remain in the Southland this weekend, getting treatment on his injury in hopes of being ready for the start of the National League Division Series next Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
“Obviously it’s really, really swollen, but they said once they get the fluid out, I should be able to go by Saturday,” said Freeman, who used crutches during the Dodgers’ clubhouse celebration but was walking with just the boot later in the night.
“Fortunately enough, we have some time off now to heal this thing,” he added. “I’m optimistic.”
Manager Dave Roberts took that optimism one step further on Friday, saying that he can’t “see any world” where Freeman isn’t in the lineup for the start of the postseason.
“He’s just such a warrior,” Roberts said. “And he’s gonna do anything he can to post.”
Freeman’s sprained ankle served as the latest hardship in what has been an arduous season for the 35-year-old slugger.
On the field, Freeman has had his least productive season in almost a decade. While his .282 batting average and .854 OPS are still well above league average, they’ve represented his worst marks since 2015. His 89 RBIs will mark his second-lowest total in a full season since 2017. And in recent weeks, as he has continued to battle a broken right middle finger he suffered in August, the left-handed hitter had been visibly frustrated with his swing, batting just .241 with five extra-base hits in his past 15 games.
None of that, however, has compared to the adversity Freeman faced off the field.
In late July, his 3-year-old son, Max, was temporarily paralyzed by a frightening case of Guillain-Barré syndrome, forcing Freeman to step away from the team for eight games. After spending the last two months in physical therapy, Max only began walking on his own again last week — a gratifying milestone for the Freeman family, but also a reflection of the difficult journey they’ve faced during the second half of the Dodgers’ season.
“Every day is better and better for Max and that’s all I can really ask for,” Freeman said. “But yeah, the last couple months have been trying.”
That’s why, even though he’ll miss the final games of the regular season and have to spend his run-up to the playoff rehabbing his ankle, Freeman was still upbeat Thursday night.
“It’s all put in perspective now,” he said. “Yeah, tough couple of months. But when you look up and see that [we are] NL West champions and Max is walking now, things are OK.”
The same can seemingly be said for his sprained ankle, as well.
