PITTSBURGH — The bigger his career numbers got, the harder it was for Freddie Freeman to ignore them.
“I’ve never thought about it as I was going along,” said Freeman, who became the 102nd player in MLB history to collect 2,500 career hits with an RBI single in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. “But when I got here, over the last few years we’ve appreciated the big moments for all the guys that reach these things.”
Sometime during the 2024 season (prompted by veteran infielder Miguel Rojas), the Dodgers started to make it a ritual. Any time someone reached a career milestone – 10 years service time, 1,000 career hits, 100 career wins, whatever it is – the team gathers for a post-game toast and acknowledgement of that player’s achievement.
It was champagne all around in Freeman’s honor on Tuesday night.
“I think when you’re going through the course of 162 (games) – every day is the same. You’re grinding. You’re doing whatever you can,” the first baseman said. “When you have an organization that does appreciate what you’ve done over your career, you do take a moment, a second
“It makes you take a step back and realize how hard this game is and how long you have to play to reach these things. It does mean a lot. If you would have asked me 10 years ago, I probably would have brushed it off and kept going. But as you get older, you do get more emotional and sentimental. It is nice for people to take a moment and appreciate what you’ve done in this game. It is special. I understand 2,500 hits is a lot of hits. I’m happy to be able to do it and hopefully tomorrow we’ll start the next 500 journey.”
Freeman has targeted 3,000 hits for some time now, but that has softened somewhat recently.
The arrival of his fourth child and first daughter has made Freeman question whether he wants to sacrifice the time away from family for the four more seasons it would likely take to reach 3,000.
Only 33 players in baseball history have reached 3,000 hits, most recently Miguel Cabrera in 2022.
Freeman has dismissed the idea of chasing that number by bouncing from team to team if that’s what it requires. And he knows, to say in L.A., he has to stay healthy enough to play first base – DH is spoken for with Shohei Ohtani under contract through 2033.
“It goes back and forth,” Freeman said. “I never thought about it ever until the last couple years when people start bringing up more the individual stats that I’m coming close to. Obviously it sits on your mind. You reach this one and the next one is the big one. But you’ve got to be healthy and you’ve got to play longer. I’ve already played 17 years. You gotta keep going.
“Over the last year or two, 3,000 is a number that I would love to get to. But I have one more year under contract. There’s still a lot of other factors that go into it. I have four kids now. We have to see what’s going on there. But I would love to get to 3,000 hits. I would love to. I’m not going to deny that. But do I know if I’m going to get there? I don’t know. But we’ll start the trek tomorrow and we’ll see if we can get some more numbers and we’ll see if people still want me to play after 2027.”
Freeman’s teammates appreciate the weight of his achievement.
“It’s awesome,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “He’s been around for a while, and he’s been really good for a while. So these things are coming up because of that. He’s been so good for so long.
“Especially with the game now, it’s so hard to get hits, but he keeps doing it. So I don’t know if there really are words to say, because there’s so few people that are in that category. It just shows you how elite he is as a player.”
Left-hander Eric Lauer joked about doing his part to get Freeman to 2,500 – Freeman is 4 for 14 in his career when facing Lauer.
“I’ve contributed a couple of those 2,500,” Lauer said. “He’s always going to put together a good AB. He’s always going to work the count. He’s not overly aggressive, but he does damage if you miss. I think he’s just overall obviously one of the greatest hitters of our generation, and in the game in general.”
IL-BOUND
Catcher Will Smith is headed to the injured list with a persistent neck injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the past four games through Wednesday. Unless they can obtain a catcher from another organization, the Dodgers will likely make a move on Thursday to add either Eliezer Alfonzo or Chuckie Robinson to the 40-man roster and promote one from Triple-A.
“He’s progressing, but I think it’s been, what, probably four days since he’s been in a game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Smith. “There’s been some improvement, but I think in talking to him today, the training staff, IL is most likely to kind of use those back-date days.
“The thought is that Dalton will catch these three games here, and then we’ll get somebody here tomorrow, so I’m not sure who that’s gonna be.”
The 26-year-old Alfonzo has hit .297 in 35 games for Oklahoma City this year after signing with the Dodgers as a minor-league free agent this winter following five seasons in the Detroit Tigers’ system. He has never played in the majors.
The 31-year-old Robinson has played 26 games in the major leagues, one with the Dodgers last season. He has hit .260 in 21 games for OKC this season.
The Dodgers released utilityman Tyler Fitzgerald on Wednesday, clearing a 40-man roster spot for a potential move. Fitzgerald was 24 for 82 (.293) with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 24 games with OKC since being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays.
REHAB ROUNDUP
Right-handed reliever Evan Phillips made his third appearance on a rehab assignment with OKC on Wednesday and pitched a scoreless inning with one hit, one walk and one hit batter. He escaped the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout.
In three appearances since returning from Tommy John surgery, Phillips has pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings with two hits, three walks and three strikeouts.
Utility man Tommy Edman continued his rehab assignment, going 0 for 4 and playing six innings at second base on Wednesday. In 11 games with OKC, Edman is 9 for 40 (.225) with one double, one triple and one home run. Edman is returning from ankle surgery.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Justin Wrobleski, 7-2, 2.62 ERA) at Pirates (RHP Mitch Keller, 5-3, 4.81 ERA), Thursday, 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM