If the Dodgers looked only at the standings, they could convince themselves this season has mostly gone to plan. But the injuries have told a different story, and the way the club has handled Freddie Freeman’s knee issue is only making the comparison to Shohei Ohtani louder.
Freeman’s bat has taken a sharp turn in September. He’s managed just three hits in 30 at-bats this month, and the power that carried him through the first half has disappeared.
He finally ended a long homer drought on September 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals, going almost two full months without leaving the yard.
That slump looks a lot different when you rewind to June. Freeman was rolling then, pairing a strong batting average with real thump and finishing the month with a .973 OPS, his best mark of the season.
Even in July and August, when the home runs dried up, he kept hitting for average. The issue now is that the overall production has fallen off a cliff, and the right knee he’s been dealing with - patellar tendinitis - is clearly part of the picture.
Unlike Ohtani, Freeman has also been given several off-days to help manage it.
That difference has not gone unnoticed by Dodgers fans, and Chad Moriyama of Dodgers Digest pointed out that Freeman seems to be getting less criticism for the injury-related decline at the plate than Ohtani did.
The Ohtani situation still hangs over all of this. When the Dodgers first said in June that he had inflammation in his knee, it sounded manageable.
Ohtani kept playing, and on the surface he looked fine by nearly any standard. He posted a 1.091 OPS that month, and on the mound he was solid if unspectacular in four June starts.
There was no obvious sign that something bigger was brewing.
Now, though, the picture looks very different. Ohtani was clearly in more pain than the initial reporting suggested.
After one start in early July, he was shut down from pitching and received an injection in his knee during the All-Star break. Even after trying to build back up over the last few months, he never got comfortable enough to return to the mound.
That has fueled questions about whether the Dodgers pressed too hard to get him back, or whether they simply trusted their star to judge his own body. Fans want those answers now, not in the offseason.
And the second-guessing will keep coming, because any dip below MVP-level production from Ohtani is going to get picked apart. That’s the burden that comes with being the face of the franchise, now and in the future.
Freeman is a different case. He just turned 37, he plays first base, and the reaction around him is never going to be as intense as it is around Ohtani. None of that changes the fact that Freeman has been a huge piece for Los Angeles, and the Dodgers have already gotten a lot out of him since signing him.
With two weeks left in September, the Dodgers still have a chance to use this stretch as a reset. If they’re going to make another deep postseason run, they’ll need both Freeman and Ohtani ready to go.
In Other News...
Dodgers Bullpen Just Took A Brutal Hit At The Worst Time
The Dodgers relief depth took another hit when Edgardo Henriquez landed on the 15-day injured list with low back discomfort, a move that ends his regular season. It was the kind of late-season setback Los Angeles can least afford, especially with the bullpen already in flux and every available arm carrying extra importance down the stretch.
To fill Henriquezs spot, the Dodgers recalled Bobby Miller to the active roster, another sign of how aggressively they are trying to keep the pitching staff pieced together. The roster churn did not stop there, either, as Emmet Sheehan was optioned and Paul Gervase was also brought back earlier in the day, leaving the club to keep sorting through its bullpen options with the calendar working against it. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Bullpen Picture Is Turning Against Edwin Daz Fast
Edwin Dazs path back to the Dodgers has not gone the way anyone hoped, and the timing makes it especially frustrating with October approaching. After working through rehab outings in Oklahoma City, the right-hander has been slowed by injuries, including neck inflammation, and the latest signs point away from a late postseason return for Los Angeles.
Kris Bubic, meanwhile, is giving the organization a more encouraging bullpen storyline from Triple-A, turning in scoreless innings with a strong strikeout rate as he moves through his own assignment. The bigger picture in the system has some positives too, from Jake Gelofs modern-era Tulsa home run record to the Drillers playoff push with reinforcements arriving, but for the Dodgers the immediate concern is still how quickly the relief mix can solidify without counting on Daz. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Create An October Dilemma With Surprising Pitching Decision
The Dodgers made a noteworthy pitching move ahead of their series against the Reds, optioning right-hander Emmet Sheehan to Triple-A even after a run of strong recent outings. In his place, the club added Paul Gervase as a fresh bullpen arm, a decision that suggests Los Angeles is leaning on immediate roster flexibility as the calendar pushes deeper into October territory.
Emmet Sheehans demotion also creates a wrinkle for the Dodgers pitching plans going forward, since he cannot return before the end of the regular season unless another player is injured. For a team trying to line up arms with the postseason in view, losing that kind of depth, even temporarily, adds another layer of intrigue to how the staff will be managed over the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]