This past October, Freddie Freeman gave fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers unforgettable memories.
From the Game 1 walk off grand slam that etched his place among baseball's immortal, to his three other home runs in the World Series that earned him MVP honors and the eighth Dodgers championship, fans almost forgot that Freeman underwent ankle surgery in December.
Through the celebration of the World Series and the subsequent dominance that was the offseason, the World Series MVP has somewhat quietly been going through his recovery. That doesn't mean he isn't anxious to finally start the quest to become baseball's first back-to-back champions in a quarter-century.
The October hero detailed how excited he is for Opening Day and where he is in the process of getting healthy enough to play in the Tokyo Series.
“I am perfectly on track for that,” Freeman said. “We’ll get a better sense when I’m not in an inflated bubble helping me run, but probably middle of next week by the end of the next week I’ll have a really good sense of how I’m feeling.”
The inflated bubble in question is a boost treadmill that de-loads body weight and allows Freeman to freely run, something he can't quite do yet because of his ankle.
The excitement doesn't stop there.
Despite not being allowed to hit as the Dodgers reunited at Camelback Ranch, Freeman revealed he broke a rule on his recovery plan due to his giddiness.
"I wasn’t supposed to swing today, but I swung," Freeman said. "I couldn’t help myself."
Like a 12-year-old in a cast counting down the days until he can play the game he loves again, Freeman — at a youthful 35 years old— displays the same exuberance. Perhaps that is a factor in his otherworldly postseason performances.
Freeman also told reporters his goal for 2025, aside from the assumed World Series ring.
“The goal is 162 (games),” he said. “Hopefully it’s 161 because I always take the game off after we win the division. … I’m doing everything I can to make sure I’m ready for 162.”
