The Los Angeles Dodgers activated first baseman Freddie Freeman from the injured list Friday after he recently aggravated his surgically repaired right ankle while falling in the shower.
Freeman played in only three games this season before going on the IL with an ankle sprain on April 3, retroactive to March 31. At the time, X-rays showed no additional damage to his ankle.
On Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he expected Freeman to return to the lineup for Friday’s home game against the Chicago Cubs. Freeman’s return comes on the night of a bobblehead giveaway depicting his walk-off grand slam pose in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series.
Roberts said Freeman faced live batting practice this week and his gait “looks really good” while running.
Freeman originally injured his ankle on the night the Dodgers clinched the National League West in September, rolling it while trying to beat out a groundball and tearing ligaments. He played through it en route to World Series MVP honors and underwent surgery in November to remove bone spurs that had broken off dangerously close to his Achilles tendon.
Freeman’s ankle wasn’t quite 100 percent when the season started, and he reinjured it at home on March 30 in what he called a “freak accident.” The 35-year-old said a leak in the primary bathroom forced him to use a combination shower-tub in a different bathroom in his house. In stepping over the lip of the tub, Freeman lost his balance and fell.
On Friday, the Dodgers return to Los Angeles after a six-game road trip against the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals, where they went 2-4. According to ticket demand, no bobblehead is more coveted across MLB this season than Freeman’s.
Friday night’s giveaway to the first 40,000 fans (Dodger Stadium seats 56,000, so there is some competition in play) had the highest preseason buy-in average of $145 per ticket. Fans started lining up outside the stadium more than five hours before the scheduled first pitch time.
(Photo: Jonathan Hui / Imagn Images)