Freddie Freeman celebrated his 37th birthday on Saturday hopeful that improved health would be his biggest gift.
After missing the Dodgers’ last two games with a right knee injury, Freeman returned to action for the team’s Saturday afternoon game against the Marlins, feeling “night and day” better with what he described as patellar tendonitis.
“It’s OK, just some aches and pains,” Freeman said of his knee. “I feel OK, much better than the last few days.”
Freeman said he had been dealing with the injury over the last several weeks, contributing to his recent 1-for-18 slump at the plate.
There was no one moment that initially caused the problem, just some “wear and tear” over the course of his 17th big-league season.
“I was having trouble moving [on defense]. I didn’t have a front side anymore [in my swing],” Freeman said of the way the injury had initially impacted him. “It just got to the point where it wasn’t giving me the best opportunity to play like I want to.”
Thus, the veteran first baseman sat out each of the Dodgers’ past two games and served only as designated hitter — in place of the also-injured Shohei Ohtani — the day before that.
Freeman said he has dealt with this kind of knee issue before. For now, he has not gone for any further medical imaging, remaining hopeful that daily treatment and medication with the team’s medical staff can alleviate his discomfort over the final few weeks of the regular season.
“It’s way better now already,” Freeman said, noting his absence on Friday was more of a precaution against overexerting himself following a long travel day from Los Angeles.
“Hopefully, it hurts more tomorrow,” he then quipped with a smirk, “because that means I was on the bases a lot today.”
