Freddie Freeman Weighs In On Missing Games For Dodgers Down the Stretch

Freeman returned from a three-game absence Friday.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman returned to the team after missing three games with a finger injury. In his return, the eight-time All-Star recorded a two-run home run and three RBIs in the Dodgers' 10-9 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Freeman fractured his finger on Aug. 17 while going for a ground ball against the St. Louis Cardinals, and missed the following game. Freeman returned that Monday, deciding to play through the pain.

The pain became too much this past week, and Freeman sat for three games. He managed to avoid going on the injured list but was still unhappy going into his time off. Freeman does not like to miss any game, especially because of the way it impacts his pregame routine and pregame swings.

“It’s more of – I can’t do my routines and practice like I want to and get ready for games,” Freeman said, via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “I can still play. Obviously, I didn’t play very well. But I can still go out there and compete. But that was the main thing for me, was I wasn’t able to prepare like I normally do over the last 15 years in my career. So that was kind of the goal of giving me a couple days off, was to hopefully let it subside a little bit so I could do my routines. I’ve been able to do that the last couple days.”

Over his three days off, Freeman ended up finding a way to embrace his brief time off and give himself a mental break.

“Once I got into the break, that’s when I was like, ‘You know what, I think it’s time to just shut it off for a second,’” Freeman said. “We all have things going on in our lives. It’s been a lot the last six weeks.”

Freeman acknowledged that it's been a taxing time over the last six weeks. Since the MLB All-Star break, Freeman has not only dealt with the finger injury but also his son, Max, battling a rare case of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Freeman missed eight games to be with his family and Max, who was in the hospital.

Freeman returned in early August after Max went home from the hospital, but then sustained the finger injury. He is now back with the Dodgers again, but his finger is not fully healed.