The Los Angeles Dodgers will play either the Atlanta Braves or the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series.
The Dodgers got the benefit of a bye, and perhaps no team could have used it more than they did. They have an older lineup and were going into the postseason very banged up. Freddie Freeman was dealing with a knee injury, and he spoke about how he is feeling now. He slashed .184/.259/.224 with just one extra-base hit in September.
"I’ll never blame anything physical-wise of why I didn’t play well. I just didn’t play well the last couple months of the season. That’s what I’m going to go with,” Freeman told The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett. “Did I have some ailments in my knees? Yes, I did. I don’t know how much that contributed to subconsciously trying to do stuff where it didn’t hurt as much because there were times during the course of the last couple months, maybe a three- or four-day span where the knee was a problem and I couldn’t get into the front side. So maybe I created bad habits. But I won’t blame it on that. I just played bad.
“My knee is in a good spot now – that’s why the bye week is huge. Personally, it’s huge for me that I got five days to really work on mechanics of my swing, and my knee’s in a good spot where I feel like I will be able to do that.”
Freemna has had another great year for the Dodgers, but seeing him slump going into the postseason is less than ideal. Hopefully the added time off will allow him to get back to swinging the bat like he did for most of the season.
