Dave Roberts, Freddie Freeman Provide Update on Dodgers Star's Injury

Gabe Smallson | Mar 19, 2025

Mar 15, 2025; Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) warms up before the game against the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

After an offseason like no other, and palpable excitement this spring, fans finally got to see the new-look Los Angeles Dodgers in regular season action.

World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, however, was scratched from the starting lineup less than an hour before the 2025 season began due to left rib discomfort. He didn't play in Game 2 of the series, either.

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The rib discomfort was in the same place as the injury that nagged him for a large part of last season. The pregame batting practice discomfort was enough to take the cautionary rest.

The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya reported that manager Dave Roberts claimed that the rib issue, although in the same spot, was "not as severe" as where he tore the rib cartilage last October. The skipper isn't too concerned, per Ardaya.

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Dave Roberts said Freddie Freeman’s rib issue is “not as severe,” but in the same spot as the rib cartilage he tore in last year’s postseason. Said he isn’t too concerned about it right now.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) March 18, 2025

Freeman was unfortunately not the only former MVP on the Dodgers lineup not on the diamond during the Tokyo Series, as Mookie Betts was not even in the country.

Betts had been dealing with an unknown illness that kept him out of the Dodgers' last two Cactus League games. After missing the two exhibition games in Tokyo, and seeing that the superstar had lost a noticeable amount of weight, he was sent home to recover.

Freeman has also been dealing with an ankle injury that had been bothering him since the end of the 2024 regular season and even required surgery in December.

Although the ailments clearly didn't hinder Freeman's postseason too much last October — given the first-ever walk-off Grand Slam in World Series history and his three other dingers in the Fall Classic — erring on the side of caution will prove more valuable in the long run.

As much as it would have been exciting to see both Betts and Freeman in the lineup, the historic nature of the Opening Series and the location of the event shouldn't take away from the fact that it is just the first two of 162 regular season games, and this is a team built to be playing deep into October.

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