Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers: Freddie Freeman Is Set To Return To WBC

Freddie Freeman, who last played in 2017, will return to Team Canada for the 2023 WBC

Ryan Menzie

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The honor to play in the World Baseball Classic is one not many players can pass up. A talent like Freddie Freeman easily gets chosen to play in such a tournament, but Freeman will be behind enemy lines as he looks to support Canada.

While Freeman grew up in California, both of his parents are from Ontario, Canada. Freeman holds citizenship to both the United States and Canada but ultimately chose to follow in his parents' footsteps for the WBC. 

This of course isn't the first time for Freeman as he last appeared in the WBC in 2017 with Canada. Freeman hopes to turn the fortunes around as Canada went 0-3 and a minus 18 run differential in their last outing with one of their losses coming to the United States. 

Freeman will also look to up his game as he went 2-11 with one RBI and three strikeouts all those rs ago. If his stats since 2017 are any indication of his abilities, there's a safe bet that Freeman will have a stronger outing this time around.

Since joining the WBC, Canada has struggled and has yet to make it past the first round with a 3-8 record. USA on the other hand won its first World Baseball Classic in 2017.

The tournament which takes place every four years (with the exception of an unusual past few years with COVID) is set to start in Taiwan and then end with the championship game in Miami. 

Perhaps Freeman can be the answer to stop USA from winning two WBC's in a row but he'll have to face teammates Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, and Will Smith first. 

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Ryan Menzie
RYAN MENZIE

Ryan Menzie | Lead Contributor Ryan is an LA Native who has grown up praising the greatest athletes LA has had to offer. A love for sports ranging between basketball, football, volleyball and golf, a future Sports Management Masters graduate, and being engulfed into organized sports since seven years old, the passion and love for sports never ends for Ryan. If the words he writes don't paint the full picture of his true fandom, he will find more ways than one to tell the story and be more than willing to open up a nice LA sports debate with you. Favorite Player: Mookie Betts Favorite Moment: 2020 World Series. The Lakers won the NBA title and the Dodgers secured the World Series only a couple of months later. During such a rough time with COVID-19 and such a bleak look at how sports has tried to overcome the circumstances, it was a relief to see the night sky lit up for many nights and a makeshift parade in LA when it seemed like we needed it the most.

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