Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman made his Cactus League debut on Thursday, going 1-for-3 with a single.
After the game, Freeman told reporters that his ankle is still bothering him, and probably will for the foreseeable future.
Freeman played the game with tape on his ankle, and said he expects to do that and get daily treatment through the All-Star break.
Freeman also said he may not be able to play a day game after a night game early in the season as he makes his way back from offseason surgery.
“I wish it felt like my left one,” Freeman said of his right ankle, “but it doesn’t.”
Freeman turned his ankle during the final week of the 2024 regular season.
He was in and out of the lineup during the National League Division Series and NL Championship Series, but put the team on his back in the World Series, hitting four home runs and driving in 12 RBIs en route to a World Series MVP award.
After the World Series, it was revealed just how much pain Freeman was dealing with — and not just to his ankle. Freeman was also dealing with broken rib cartilage, and truly gave his all to the Dodgers in October.
“I gave myself to the game, to the field,” Freeman said after the World Series. “I did everything I could to get onto that field.
And that’s why this is really, really sweet. I’m proud of the fact that I gave everything I could to this team and I left it all out there. That’s all I try to do every single night.
“When I go home and put my head on that pillow, I ask if I gave everything I had that night. And usually it’s a yes. One hundred percent of the time it’s a yes. But this one was a little bit sweeter because I went through a lot. My teammates appreciated it. The organization appreciated it. And to end it with a championship makes all the trying times before games, what I put myself through to get on the field, worth it.”
Freeman underwent surgery in December, and has no plans of missing any time this season.
He said he hopes to DH again on Saturday and then play first base for the first time this spring on Sunday since the Dodgers have an off day on Monday.
