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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman is still hobbled by the sprained right ankle he suffered on Sept. 26, but Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemingly doesn’t have any doubt about his availability for Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday.
“I’m expecting him to be in the lineup,” Roberts said before Friday’s pre-NLDS workout. “What that looks like, I guess we’ll know when we see him out there. But with Freddie, I don’t doubt that he’ll be ready to go.”
Freeman hit in the batting cages and took at-bats in an intrasquad scrimmage from Dodger Stadium on Thursday. He did not run the bases or play defense then, but Roberts nonetheless called it “a good step forward.”
On Friday, Freeman took a handful of groundballs at first base and briefly ran the bases, including a near-sprint from first to third. Freeman was visibly still favoring his tender ankle but said “the swelling has come down a lot” over the past eight days.
“I feel good,” Freeman said. “Good enough.”
Given Shohei Ohtani‘s presence at designated hitter, Freeman has to play the field in order to take part in this series. If he can’t go, the Dodgers would move Max Muncy from third to first base and start Enrique Hernandez at Muncy’s original position.
But that doesn’t seem to be an option at the moment.
“I really don’t want to let my mind go there,” Roberts said.
Running the bases and taking part in defensive drills qualified as the final step Freeman felt he needed to clear before declaring himself ready. While covering first base, he pushed off with his right foot as hard as he could in an effort to test the ankle and said he felt “good enough.” He expects to feel the most pain while slowing down on the bases.
“They told me this is a four- to six-week IL stint,” Freeman said. “And I’m going to try to do this in a week and play.”