Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Will Play Despite Fracture

The Los Angeles Dodgers breathed a sigh of relief before Monday night’s 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners at Dodger Stadium .

Freddie Freeman said he was ready to play despite having a hairline fracture in his right middle finger.

The first baseman exited Saturday’s game in the eighth inning with a jammed right middle finger, then missed Sunday’s game because of continued swelling. He went through his pregame routine on Monday and determined the pain was tolerable.

A trip to the injured list was not really considered. The swelling went down, Freeman was able to grip a bat and it’s on his throwing hand so it doesn’t affect him in the field much.

“We talked about it briefly, but he was adamant that he was gonna be fine,” manager Dave Roberts said of Freeman . “He’s a guy that you certainly trust.”

Freeman was 0-for-4 with a strikeout but made a few incredible plays on defense.

Freeman’s injury comes at a time when there is less pressure on any individual among the Dodgers’ starting nine than at perhaps any point this season. Roberts has had to piece together a daily lineup for the past few months because of injuries. On Monday, he couldn’t help but smile as the core of his lineup was finally healthy.

There was a different buzz in the air even though catcher Austin Barnes landed on the IL with a fractured toe after fouling a ball off his foot Sunday. He is expected to miss the minimum.

“It seemed like everyone was pretty excited today, getting a couple pieces back,” third baseman Max Muncy said . “Definitely a little pep in the step for everybody, so hopefully we can just carry that onto the field and we can get everyone going at the right time right now.”

Muncy’s return was highly anticipated, and he delivered with a two-run home run in the seventh inning off former Dodgers reliever Yimi Garcia . He ended up going 1-for-4 but had productive at-bats.

“The mechanics feel really good,” said Muncy. “Obviously, the timing is not entirely where I want to be, but that’s just something that’s going to come with more time out there on the field. There’s only so much time you can have doing a rehab assignment.”

The Dodgers lineup displayed a relentless attack from Shohei Ohtani at the top to Tommy Edman in the ninth spot.

“For Max to come up tonight in a big spot and homer gave us some breathing room, gave Joe [Kelly] a little runway, and then [allowed] Evan [Phillips] to finish it,” said Roberts . “But I just really like [that] now, we’re finally healthy as far as on the position-player side.”

Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

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