Freddie Freeman has five days to turn the Dodgers’ bye into a reset button. Los Angeles’ first baseman is not offering his sore right knee as an explanation for a quiet finish, even after a season in which his production slipped well below his usual standard. He is calling it what he believes it was: a swing that drifted out of place, and a chance to put it back before Saturday’s National League Division Series opener.
Five days in the cage before Game 1
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Freeman and the Dodgers opened their postseason break after the regular season, with Los Angeles waiting to learn whether Philadelphia or Atlanta would emerge from the National League Wild Card Series.
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On Tuesday, Freeman said he planned to use the idle time for extensive work rather than simply rest. He expects to take more than 400 swings before seeing live pitching later in the week.
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His first adjustment was aimed at getting more use from his lower half. Freeman said he intended to revisit the step-out move he used during the 2024 World Series, a setup designed to keep him from bending over, shortening his path and cutting off the swing.
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The final test will come when the Dodgers open the NLDS on Saturday. Game 1 will air on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One. The start is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT if Milwaukee plays Chicago, or 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT if Milwaukee meets San Diego.
Freeman finished the regular season with a .792 OPS, his lowest over a full campaign since he posted a .794 OPS as a rookie in 2011. The power outage was particularly sharp over the final three months, when he hit three homers. In September, he recorded a .224 slugging percentage and just one extra-base hit.
The eight-time All-Star has not tried to put that stretch on physical trouble. His right knee had been bothering him, an issue manager Dave Roberts identified in early September, but Freeman said he will not use it to account for his results.
“I’m never going to say a physical issue is why I performed poorly,” Freeman said. “I didn’t play well over the last couple months. I did have knee ailments, and maybe that led to some unconscious adjustments and bad habits. But I’m not going to put it on that. I played poorly.”
A mechanical fix, not an excuse
Roberts sees the knee and the swing as connected, even if Freeman does not want the injury listed as an alibi. A hitter protecting a lower-body issue can make small compromises at the plate, and those adjustments can linger after the discomfort begins to ease.
“His mechanics changed because the right knee was compromised,” Roberts said. “Now that the knee is getting close to fully healthy, he has to get the swing recalibrated. That’s where we are.”
That is why the break matters so much to Freeman. During the season, a player can test a thought in batting practice and be forced to carry it into a game a couple of hours later. This week allows him to isolate the work, repeat it and let it settle before the postseason lights come on.
“It’s good not to try something in BP and then immediately have to take it into a game and find out whether it works,” Freeman said. “I can focus on what I want to do during batting practice, and leave it there for the day.”
For all the late-season frustration, Freeman said his body feels better entering this October than it did during previous playoff runs. He recalled feeling “100 times worse” physically in an earlier postseason and said the current task is now entirely about getting his mechanics right.
“Ailment-wise, I genuinely feel good,” Freeman said. “It’s on me to solve the swing over these next five days, and I’m confident I’ll have it figured out by Saturday.”
Roberts watching the veteran roster closely
Freeman is hardly the only established Dodger carrying regular-season wear into October. Los Angeles has spent much of the year managing injuries across a veteran clubhouse, and Roberts said the club’s health should be as strong as it has been all season for players who have dealt with ailments.
The manager also believes the experience of that group can become an October advantage. The harder portion, he said, is getting older players through the 162-game schedule. Once the postseason begins, the club will have to keep reading each player’s condition and mindset rather than following one fixed plan.
“The guys who have been dealing with things should be as healthy now as they’ve been all year,” Roberts said. “Experience will help us in the postseason. The difficult part with veteran players is the regular season. We’ll see how everyone comes into Saturday, where they are mentally, and then react as the postseason goes along.”
For Freeman, the assignment is more direct: legs under him, hands back in rhythm, and a swing ready for the first October at-bat.
