LOS ANGELES – Dave Roberts has a dilemma.
His first baseman, Freddie Freeman, just turned 37 years old and has been slumping badly down the stretch while playing through patellar tendinitis in his right knee. Never one to accept days off as the answer to anything, Freeman would probably benefit from some down time this week – but he also needs at-bats to rediscover the swing that had him batting .300 for the season just two weeks ago or recalibrate it to accommodate his balky knee.
“There’s rest, but there’s also trying to find your swing,” Roberts acknowledged after putting Freeman in the lineup Saturday and Sunday – a day game following a night game.
“I think it’s a work in progress,” Roberts said of Freeman’s swing. “I think that the other day in Cincinnati (a three-hit game Tuesday), I think it was looking pretty good, and then. I actually thought yesterday there were a couple good swings there.
“Obviously, the results weren’t there for him, and he’s frustrated, and I think that you just kind of have to count on him to figure it out and bet on him. And that’s kind of where we’re at. But again, having the week off (with a first-round bye) would be huge too.”
Freeman said he has been doing some different drills in the batting cage, focused on hitting the ball “out front” more.
“I feel like my faults are I try to hit the ball to the opposite field too much, and I let the ball get too deep, and it caused me to slide,” Freeman said earlier this week. “So today (in the cage) was – foot down early, catch the ball out front a little bit.”
Even with that three-hit game in Cincinnati and a two-hit game on Thursday, Freeman went into Sunday just 6 for his past 48 (.125), hitless in nine at-bats in the first two games of the series with the Giants.
“Got to go for results-based things right now,” Freeman said. “Looking to be hot for a few weeks. That’s all I’m trying to do.
“I’m just trying to find something that gives me results. We’re at the time where we’re just trying to get hot for five weeks here. So kind of like I did in the World Series a couple years ago (when his ankle was injured), I did the step-out move. That’s not sustainable over six months. I’m not trying to find something that’s sustainable. I’m trying to find something that works for four weeks.”
OHTANI WORK
The “hope” is that Shohei Ohtani will be ready to come off the Injured List when he is eligible on Wednesday, Roberts said. When he does, Roberts expects him to be in the lineup for the final five games.
“Absolutely,” Roberts said. “Yeah, he’ll need those live at-bats.”
Roberts has said Ohtani is “pain free” but he acknowledged that Ohtani won’t be 100 percent when he returns – but will be closer to it than he has been in weeks.
“Discomfort you can play through,” Roberts said of how Ohtani is feeling. “I think there’s a difference between discomfort and pain. Is it 100 percent? Probably not. Is it better than it was a week ago? Yes.
“Honestly I think that’s just a better question for Shohei to give more specifics, but I do think that when he’s activated it’s going to be the best physical place he’s been in in quite some time.”
Ohtani has spoken with the media just once in the past five weeks (before he went on the IL).
KIM CALL
Signed to a three-year, $12.5 million contract, Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim has spent most of the second season of that contract in Triple-A where he hit .265 with a .682 OPS in 84 games. He hasn’t been up with the Dodgers since May but Roberts said Kim will be part of the “conversation” for the postseason roster.
“My expectation is Hyeseong will be here during the off week (next week) and potentially be a conversation for the postseason (roster) because he has the ability to run, to play defense, and steal a base,” Roberts said. “He’s in the conversation, yes.”
Kim was on the postseason roster last fall, appearing in just two games. It will be difficult to give him a spot on a bench that seems set with Alex Call, Hunter Feduccia, Miguel Rojas, Kike’ Hernandez and Josue De Paula.
ROSTER MOVES
The Dodgers placed Tarik Skubal on the bereavement list Sunday and recalled Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A to pitch ‘bulk’ in Sunday’s game.
Also, Seth Halvorsen was returned to Triple-A and Kyle Hurt was recalled.
Sheehan is still under consideration for a bullpen role on the postseason roster.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers are off on Monday.
Padres (TBA) at Dodgers (TBA), Tuesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM