Dodgers Manager Didn't Believe Freddie Freeman Would Be Able to Play Opening Day

Valentina Martinez | Feb 28, 2025

Feb 27, 2025; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first base Freddie Freeman (5) arrives before a spring training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not think first baseman Freddie Freeman would be ready for Opening Day.

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“There was a point … I don’t know if it was January where he wasn’t moving very well, wasn’t recovering, still was in a lot of pain where Opening Day didn’t even seem feasible,” Roberts said Thursday, via The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett.

“But he’s put in a lot of work. It’s come along. He’s certainly not 100 percent yet. But I think now we’re all confident that when we get to Tokyo he’ll be at first base.”

Roberts was not alone in his thinking. Freeman underwent ankle surgery in the offseason, but played on a bad ankle throughout the entire month of October. It was quite a surprise when Freeman revealed he was on track to compete in the season opener in Tokyo.

“I don’t think I will be in the games at the beginning. It looks like I’m going to start a running progression right when I get to spring training,” Freeman said at DodgerFest. “As of right now, I am on track to be able to play in Tokyo.”

Freeman made his Cactus League debut on Thursday as the Dodgers' designated hitter, but he is supposed to make his first start of the spring at first base this weekend.

As for the season, Freeman hopes to be a full participant, but he did convey his right ankle does not feel 100 percent.

“I wish it felt like the left one, but it doesn’t,” Freeman said, describing the ankle as “good enough.”

“The goal is 162 (games),” he added. “Hopefully it’s 161 because I always take the game off after we win the division. … I’m doing everything I can to make sure I’m ready for 162.”

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