Freeman sits with right knee soreness; IL 'absolutely not' a possibility
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LOS ANGELES -- First baseman Freddie Freeman has been dealing with soreness in his right knee, leading the Dodgers to leave him out of the lineup for Wednesday night's game against the Reds at Dodger Stadium.
It marked Freeman's second game off in the past nine days, and it came one night after he got a rare start at designated hitter with Shohei Ohtani out of action. Freeman is considered day to day.
After Thursday's team off-day, Freeman could return to the lineup on Friday in Miami. The Dodgers could also consider resting him for an additional game, giving him three straight days off in order to keep him fresh with the postseason fast approaching.
Freeman going on the injured list is "absolutely not" a possibility, manager Dave Roberts said.
One of the Dodgers' most consistent hitters all season, Freeman has slumped to start September, going 3-for-22 with only one extra-base hit. He has hit one home run in his last 53 games.
Roberts said there was no one incident that caused Freeman's knee soreness, but he believes it has impacted his performance at the plate lately.
"Freddie does a really good job of hitting against his front side, and then when you can't do that with your front side, your right knee, then you're compromised," Roberts said. "I see there's a lot more swing-and-miss the last few days. That's just not who he is."