Freddie Freeman arrived in Atlanta with a cleaner swing, a steadier right knee and a chance to help the Dodgers reclaim control of their National League Division Series against the Braves.
Los Angeles and Atlanta resume the best-of-five matchup Tuesday in Game 3 at Truist Park, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. ET and coverage on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One. Freeman’s return carries extra weight: the Dodgers’ first baseman was drafted by Atlanta in 2007, spent his first 12 Major League seasons with the Braves, and last played a postseason game in this ballpark during the 2021 World Series.
The Dodgers entered the road portion of the series encouraged by Freeman’s first two games. He is 3-for-7 against Atlanta and hit a home run in Sunday’s Game 2 defeat. That blast was his first extra-base hit, and his first homer, since Sept. 2.
A timely turnaround at the plate
Freeman’s late-season numbers told a different story. While dealing with patellar tendinitis in his right knee, he posted a .483 OPS in September and struggled to drive the baseball with his usual authority. He resisted pointing to the injury as the reason for his production, unwilling to frame his slump as an excuse.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, however, saw the connection. Following Los Angeles’ five-day layoff before the Division Series, Roberts said Freeman was getting more use from his lower half and doing a better job of meeting pitches out front. In Roberts’ view, the veteran is healthier than he has been for a while, with his hitting mechanics back in order.
Freeman used the break to work through habits that had crept into his swing over the previous month. The downtime offered both physical recovery and a mental reset, allowing him to focus on individual adjustments without the pressure of regular-season games.
An intrasquad workout Thursday offered another encouraging sign. Freeman found the right-center field gap and turned it into a hard-running double, a modest moment in a controlled setting but a notable one after nearly a month without an extra-base hit in a game that mattered.
He said he feels well and would prefer the questions about his condition to fade into the background. More importantly, he said he has been consistently putting himself in a sound hitting position and taking better swings, with the goal of carrying that work into Tuesday’s game.
Back where it began
Freeman knows Truist Park as well as anyone in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Across 355 regular-season and postseason appearances there, he owns a .301/.397/.539 line. But this is his first October return to Atlanta since leaving the Braves for Los Angeles after the 2021 season.
Braves manager Walt Weiss acknowledged before the series that it is good to see Freeman again, while noting the obvious complication for Atlanta: the former franchise cornerstone remains a dangerous hitter on the other side.
The series now shifts to the park where Freeman built much of his career. For the Dodgers, the early evidence says their first baseman is no longer carrying September’s slump into October. If that continues in Atlanta, his familiar surroundings could become a major part of their push to regain the series lead.
