SAN DIEGO – It was a long flight and a huge room-service bill just so he could play one game in San Diego, but for Freddie Freeman it was more than worth it, rather than wait and rejoin the team Thursday in Chicago.
Freeman flew to San Diego and was in the lineup for a series finale against the Padres on Wednesday, the first day he was eligible to be reinstated from the 15-day disabled list after recovering from an oblique strain. He singled in his first at-bat in the first inning.
The Southern California native left 24 tickets for family members to Wednesday’s game, and almost all of those folks also came to his room at the team hotel Wednesday for breakfast.
“Kind of had a family breakfast in my room this morning,” said Freeman, who was raised in Orange County, between San Diego and Los Angeles. “Twenty of them were in there. We got room service. It was just good to see them.”
When Freeman landed on the DL for a second time in succession just over two weeks ago, he wasn’t sure that he’d make it to San Diego. But he healed quickly, and Braves officials were in agreement with Freeman that he should play as soon as he was eligible, rather than wait a day and rejoin the team for the four-game series in Chicago.
No one was more pleased than family members who had planned for some time to be in San Diego to see him.
“They had their vacations planned out,” Freeman said, smiling as he put on his uniform Wednesday morning. “I was thankful to even get out here, so it’s been nice. I don’t get to see them, only on holidays and during these (Southern California) series. So it’s definitely been nice.”
He flew out Tuesday, took batting practice with the team, then watched Tuesday night’s 9-0 loss to the Padres. The Braves hoped Freeman could help them get out of an awful road malaise that saw them lost 17 of their past 19 games away from Turner Field before Wednesday, while averaging just 2.4 runs.
“He’s our best offensive player, so it’s good to have him back,” catcher Ryan Lavarnway said. “Any time you can add a big bat, especially a big left-handed bat, it changes the dynamic. So having him back will be a great addition.”
The Braves, who posted a 5.35 ERA in that 2-17 road stretch, were also glad to have Freeman back at first base.
“He’s tall, he’s really flexible, he gets the ball you think you might overthrow, and if you throw it on the ground he picks it,” second baseman Jace Peterson said. “His defense is unbelievable, and I’m really excited to see him back in the lineup.”
Freeman was 3-for-15 with two walks and seven strikeouts in four minor league injury-rehab games, including 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two walks in his last game Monday for Triple-A Gwinnett. He pretty much dismissed the first two rehab games in the Gulf Coast League, where he was 0-for-7 with four strikeouts while barely swinging the bat.
Those two games, Freeman said, were more about making sure he didn’t get hit by a pitch than anything else. The rookie-league pitchers in the GCL can be a bit erratic, to put it mildly.
“The Blue Jays have a guy down there who throws 101 miles an hour — and really wild,” Freeman said, laughing. “So, say this is the back of the batter’s box (he points to the square bottom of a dividing wall in his locker stall). “My toe was right here, all the way in the back corner.”
In his second game at Gwinnett, the final game of his short rehab stint, Freeman said his timing came together and he was seeing pitches well.
As for the oblique, Freeman said there was no lingering soreness or mental hurdle to get over. He’s been swinging with full effort for most of a week.
“I was actually fine in four or five days,” Freeman said. “I think I just needed a couple of days of treatment, but when we had (Andrelton) Simmons also not playing we had to decide (which one of them would go on the DL). Obliques can sometimes linger. But with 20-20 hindsight, I think I could have just taken another day or two and I would have been fine.
“But ultimately everything is completely healthy now. Unfortunately it took 15 days, but I’m good now.”
