{"id":101320,"date":"2025-07-29T05:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T05:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/101320\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T05:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T05:55:11","slug":"with-dodgers-battling-more-injuries-alex-freeland-could-make-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/101320\/","title":{"rendered":"With Dodgers battling more injuries, Alex Freeland could make debut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CINCINNATI\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers<\/a> are dealing with more injuries to their lineup.<\/p>\n

As a result, one of their top prospects could get his first big-league opportunity this week.<\/p>\n

Alex Freeland<\/a>, the top-ranked infielder in the Dodgers\u2019 farm system, will be in Cincinnati on Tuesday in case either Tommy Edman<\/a> (who had his lingering ankle injury flare up on him Sunday while rounding the bases) or Hyeseong Kim<\/a> (who has been battling a shoulder issue over the last week) needs to go on the injured list, manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said after the Dodgers\u2019 Monday night win<\/a> over the Reds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to come and we\u2019ll see what direction we go, with who,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWe\u2019re just kind of trying to figure out … if we do need to make a move for one of those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeland, a third-round pick in 2022 out of the University of Central Florida, is the team\u2019s No. 3 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the 35th-ranked prospect in baseball.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old switch-hitter has spent all season with triple-A Oklahoma City, where he has batted .253 with 12 home runs, 71 RBIs and .799 OPS in 94 games.<\/p>\n

Now, he might get his first crack at the big-league roster, with the Dodgers facing another round of injury headaches following Monday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

In the short term, Kim\u2019s shoulder injury appears to be the more pressing issue.<\/p>\n

The South Korean rookie has struggled mightily at the plate lately, with an 0-for-3 performance Monday leaving him just three for 24 since July 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can just see offensively with the bat, he\u2019s just not himself right now,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim, who is dealing with a shoulder injury, has struggled at the plate in recent games.<\/p>\n

(Jeff Chiu \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Edman, however, represents the bigger long-term concern for the Dodgers to manage, with his ankle injury lingering since early May.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s kind of always there,\u201d Edman said. \u201cBut I would say it\u2019s been pretty normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least it was until Sunday, when Edman said he \u201chad a little tweak of it\u201d while running the bases at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n

While Edman was not available for Monday\u2019s game, he maintained optimism he could avoid what would be a second injured list this season and be back in the lineup Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like this is that big a deal,\u201d he said. \u201cI was just at a point where I didn\u2019t feel like I could run full speed today. I got some good treatment today so hopefully I\u2019ll be back available tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the Dodgers could decide that an extended break for the utilityman is warranted \u2014 especially since he has been unable to play outfield while trying to manage his injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, if I couldn\u2019t hit him tonight, for him to not to be able to play three innings of defense, isn\u2019t a great feeling,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Freeland will be waiting in the wings just in case.<\/p>\n

A native of Louisville, Ken., he made a major jump up the Dodgers\u2019 farm system last year, when he progressed from high A to triple A while batting .260 across three minor-league levels.<\/p>\n

A disciplined hitter with 228 career walks in 345 career minor-league games, Freeland has received high marks for his defense at shortstop and third base. He also has 81 steals over his four minor-league seasons.<\/p>\n

How will the Dodgers determine if Kim or Edman \u2014 or both \u2014 will need to go on the IL?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the thing that, it is a blurred line,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThe players obviously feel that they\u2019re not hurt, where they can play and post, which is great. But the line of, are you still hurting the team, hurting yourself, that\u2019s the thing that the organization, the training staff, we\u2019ve got to make that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

When and if they do, the Dodgers know who will be tapped as a potential replacement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers are dealing with more injuries to their lineup. As a result, one of their top prospects…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":101321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[32074,65912,1582,276,6517,262,2442,65913,65910,1910,32077,2961,224,5337,9548,65911,26804,5950,65914,6599],"class_list":{"0":"post-101320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-alex-freeland","9":"tag-ankle-injury","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-case","13":"tag-defense","14":"tag-dodgers","15":"tag-farm-system","16":"tag-freeland","17":"tag-game","18":"tag-hyeseong-kim","19":"tag-la","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-losangeles","22":"tag-monday","23":"tag-more-injury","24":"tag-roberts","25":"tag-season","26":"tag-shoulder-issue","27":"tag-tommy-edman"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114934980614315639","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}