The Los Angeles Dodgers will attempt to win the National League pennant on Sunday night when they take on the New York Mets in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series. If the Dodgers are to punch their ticket to the World Series, where they would meet the New York Yankees, they’ll have to do it without first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Freeman, 35, is not part of Los Angeles’ starting lineup in Game 6. Rather, manager Dave Roberts has Max Muncy and Enrique Hernández stationed at the infield corners. Freeman sprained his ankle late in the regular season, an injury that has resulted in him sitting on a few other occasions this postseason. Most notably, he was absent from NLCS Game 4 and NLDS Game 4. He did not pinch-hit in either contest.
Freeman’s injury likely explains why he’s had an ineffective month. In eight games thus far, he’s batted .219/.242/.219 with zero extra-base hits and a walk. Roberts had suggested after Game 5 that Freeman might sit this one out with the Mets starting veteran left-hander Sean Manaea.
“I’m going to have a conversation with him [Saturday],” Roberts told reporters. “But I do think that his swing is not right. I’m certain it’s the ankle. We’ll have that conversation, but it’s certainly an option to not have him in there for Game 6.”
Whereas Freeman has struggled this month, both Muncy and Hernández have excelled. Muncy enters Sunday with a 1.033 OPS, having set a new record by reaching base in 12 consecutive trips to the plate. Hernández, meanwhile, has atoned for a so-so regular season by hitting .310/.375/.517 with two home runs in eight playoff games.
