{"id":112490,"date":"2025-08-02T08:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T08:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/112490\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T08:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T08:19:11","slug":"with-a-little-help-from-a-coldplay-meme-freddie-freeman-stays-hot-in-dodgers-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/112490\/","title":{"rendered":"With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers’ win"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, the meme made Freddie Freeman<\/a> laugh.<\/p>\n

Then, in a serendipitous twist, it gave him a lightning-bulb epiphany about his recently ailing swing.<\/p>\n

At the end of a long day during last week\u2019s homestand \u2014 when Freeman was hit by a pitch on July 20, immediately removed from the game to get an X-ray, then informed he somehow hadn\u2019t sustained serious injury \u2014 the first baseman received a comical video edit on Instagram from a friend. A light reprieve at the end of a stressful afternoon.<\/p>\n

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Read more:<\/b> Plaschke: Andrew Friedman struck out on the Dodgers’ urgent need for a closer<\/a><\/p>\n

In it, Freeman\u2019s walk-off grand slam<\/a> in last year\u2019s World Series<\/a> was superimposed over a spin-off of the Coldplay kiss cam video that recently went viral on social media (yes, that\u00a0Coldplay kiss cam<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Freeman got a chuckle out of the clip in which the couple who were infamously shown at a recent Coldplay concert<\/a> are edited to look like they are instead reacting to his iconic slam.<\/p>\n

But, while rewatching his Fall Classic moment<\/a>, Freeman also drew an observation from something in his batting stance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more in my front ankle,\u201d Freeman said of his stance during the at-bat.<\/p>\n

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It was a subtle, but profound, contrast to how he had been swinging amid his recent two-month cold spell \u2014 reminding him to\u00a0reincorporate his legs more into his mechanics and not lean as far back in his setup at the plate.<\/p>\n

So, for the rest of that evening, Freeman thought about the difference (which, he joked, kept him up for much of the night). The next afternoon, he went straight into the Dodgers\u2019 batting cages, focused on driving into his front ankle in an attempt to get his swing realigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different thought of being in your legs when you\u2019re hitting,\u201d said Freeman, who had started the season batting .371 over his first 38 games, before slumping to a .232 mark over his next 49 contests. \u201cIt\u2019s just more [about leaning] into my front ankle. It\u2019s helping me be on time and on top [of the ball].\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d he added with a chuckle, \u201chow it goes in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten games later, it seems to be going pretty well.<\/p>\n

Since making the tweak on July 21, Freeman is 14 for 39 (.359 average) with two home runs, four extra base hits, 10 RBIs and (most importantly) a renewed confidence at the plate.<\/p>\n

After collecting his first three-hit game in a month Tuesday in Cincinnati, then his first home run in all of July the next day against the Reds, he stayed hot in the Dodgers\u2019 series-opening 5-0 defeat<\/a> of the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, whacking a two-run double in the first inning and a solo home run in the fifth in front of a crowd of 10,046 at Steinbrenner Field (the New York Yankees\u2019 spring training park serving as the Rays\u2019 temporary home).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat visual helped him kind of tap into something,\u201d manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said recently of Freeman\u2019s post-meme swing adjustment. \u201cHe is early, for a change. Versus being late, chasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Friday, Freeman said he is no longer thinking about the ankle cue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just getting in the box and swinging now,\u201d he said. \u201cI’ve been taking some pitches, working a couple of walks, getting deeper in counts, hitting the pitches I need to hit. … It’s just been, [get] in the box and [be] on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he acknowledged, the meme-inspired swing thought might have served as a helpful reset.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I’ve been grinding for six, seven weeks … but obviously I’m trending in a great direction right now,\u201d he said. \u201cI just try and ride it. I know my work is usually going to end up working at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers<\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers during a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. (Jason Behnken \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Indeed, Freeman\u2019s turnaround is something the Dodgers \u2014 who also got six scoreless innings out of Clayton Kershaw<\/a> on Friday, lowering his season earned-run average to 3.29 in 13 starts \u2014 are expecting out of several superstar sluggers over the final two months of the regular season.<\/p>\n

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During Thursday\u2019s trade deadline, the team didn\u2019t splurge on big-name acquisitions. The only addition they made to their recently slumping lineup (which ranked 28th in the majors in scoring during July) was versatile outfielder Alex Call from the Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n

Instead, both Roberts and club executives have preached of late, the team is banking on players like Mookie Betts<\/a> (who is batting .237), Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> (who has hit .217 since returning from an adductor strain in May), Tommy Edman<\/a> (who has hit .211 since returning from an ankle injury in May) and even Shohei Ohtani<\/a> (who leads the National League in home runs, but is batting only .221 since resuming pitching duties in June) to play up to their typical, potent standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you look at it from the offensive side, as far as our guys, they\u2019ll be the first to tell you they\u2019ve got to perform better and more consistently,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that we\u2019re all counting on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/b> Dodgers welcome deadline additions, hopeful arrival \u2018raises the floor for our ballclub\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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For much of the summer, Freeman had been squarely in that group of underperforming veteran stars.<\/p>\n

But his recent rebound (regardless of what triggered it) is providing a template for the rest of the lineup to follow \u2014 the start, the Dodgers continue to hope, of more roster-wide improvements over the stretch run.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive or six months ago in spring training, we were talking about how great of a team we have,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cWe still have that great of a team. Obviously, some of us haven’t played as well, so it’s on us to get going. And a few of us are getting going right now. I think we’re going to be just fine going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First, the meme made Freddie Freeman laugh. Then, in a serendipitous twist, it gave him a lightning-bulb epiphany…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":112491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[69426,71137,10595,7480,33500,875,2442,6595,71136,1266,2749,2228,10596,4712,62,1289,5957,6599,67,132,68,1291],"class_list":{"0":"post-112490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-alex-call","9":"tag-batting-stance","10":"tag-cincinnati","11":"tag-clayton-kershaw","12":"tag-coldplay","13":"tag-dave-roberts","14":"tag-dodgers","15":"tag-freddie-freeman","16":"tag-jason-behnken","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-mookie-betts","19":"tag-new-york-yankees","20":"tag-reds","21":"tag-shohei-ohtani","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","24":"tag-teoscar-hernandez","25":"tag-tommy-edman","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-us","29":"tag-washington-nationals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114958196134861166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112490","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=112490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}