NEW YORK — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave Freddie Freeman a call after Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night to let him know the team’s plans for Game 4.
“He asked me if he was being benched. He doesn’t offer up days off,” Roberts said, drawing a few chuckles from reporters.
Whether he wanted it or not, Freeman got the day off in Game 4 on Thursday night. The Dodgers were unwilling to push his injured right ankle for three consecutive days with the next off day in this best-of-seven series not scheduled until Saturday.
The eight-time All-Star first baseman, 35, has not played on three consecutive days since injuring his ankle on Sept. 26.
“He’s obviously ailing and he’s doing everything he can to stay on the field,” Roberts said. “With the back-to-back games and one tomorrow, just trying to … make a decision that puts him in the best position for the games going forward.”
Game 4 also made sense with the Mets starting a left-hander, Jose Quintana – although Freeman had a history of success against Quintana (5 for 13 with a double and a home run).
“Tonight seemed easy,” Roberts said. “Obviously he wants to be in there. But having him not make the start, run out there on and off the field, be ready for a big spot tonight, made a lot of sense.”
Roberts said he could see Freeman, who is was 7 for 27 (.259) with one RBI and no extra-base hits this postseason, laboring during Game 3.
“It’s the right decision,” Roberts said. “We all know, I know, how much he’s going through to stay on the field. So I think that he understood that it’s for his best interests to kind of not start tonight’s game.”
Freeman has been going through hours of pregame treatment every day just to get ready to play.
“I don’t think my respect could be any more for Freddie. To be quite frank, there is a lot that goes into it. But I don’t really care to know all the details,” Roberts said. “I just want to know if he’s in there or not, knowing that he’s in good hands with our training staff. But what it takes for him to get ready for a ballgame these days is a huge undertaking.”
Teammates continue to praise what Freeman has done to contribute.
“He’s in a lot of pain out there. You can see it when he’s running and all that. But he’s inspiring us as players, as a teammate. Willing to put his body on the line,” catcher Will Smith said. “It’s impressive. It gets us going. We love when he’s in there. He’s been swinging it good for us. Unfortunately he’s not in there today, but I know he’s back in there tomorrow.”
GAME FIVE
Neither team was willing to name a starting pitcher for Game 5 on Friday (2 p.m. PT, FS1).
Roberts said the Dodgers were “leaning” toward starting Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty “but it’s not in stone yet.”
“I think tonight matters,” he said before Game 4. “I don’t know whether it’s how the ’pen is being used in a win, in a loss. There’s things we’re kind of still talking through. So I just don’t know that answer right now.”
If the series goes the distance, another bullpen game would be necessary either in Game 5 or 6 with Walker Buehler lined up to return for Game 7 on four days of rest.
Meanwhile, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza would not commit to Game 1 starter Kodai Senga returning, saying only that he was one option. Senga made just one start during the regular season due to shoulder and leg injuries. He couldn’t make it through two innings against the Dodgers in the NLCS opener.
LATE START
After wrist surgery last fall and an ankle injury during his rehab, Tommy Edman didn’t make his season debut in 2024 until Aug. 19, after the Dodgers acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals. So he is playing on a different calendar this year.
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“If you just track when I started playing games again, we’re about in, I think, like the end of May or beginning of June, basically,” said Edman who played in 37 regular-season games and now nine postseason games.
“I think what was nice was having that bye (before the NL Division Series), honestly, because we had – I finished the season really cold and then I had, like, five or six days to do some really good work on the swing. And definitely felt better once the postseason started.
“In that sense, we’re definitely like midseason, I would say, early to midseason.”
Edman was indeed very cold at the end of the season – he had just two hits in his last 30 at-bats. Most of the switch-hitter’s struggles came from the left side where he hit .181 compared to .412 as a right-handed hitter.
“I’m kind of working on similar things from both sides,” said Edman who started the postseason 9 for 28 (.321). “But my righty swing felt pretty good at the end of the year; lefty swing didn’t feel very good. Now my lefty swing is feeling good again.”