Freddie Freeman struck out three times and drew a walk in his first minor league rehabilitation outing Friday night in Triple-A Gwinnett and his manager Fredi Gonzalez could call it progress.
“Hopefully they were all swinging so he could really test his oblique,” quipped Gonzalez. “Reports came back OK. He looked good. Obviously we don’t want him to go 0-for-3 with three punch-outs, but at least his side held up.”
Freeman played Saturday night like he might have been inspired by those comments. Freeman went 5-for-5 in his second rehab game for Gwinnett with three singles, two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs against Charlotte. He played first base, as he will again on Sunday in Gwinnett in the final game of his rehab assignment.
If all continues to go well, Freeman will rejoin the Braves Monday in Colorado.
With Freeman’s impending return at first base, Gonzalez is thinking about playing Chris Johnson every day at third base. He and Juan Francisco opened the season in a third base platoon. But Johnson was leading the National League with a .412 batting average entering play Saturday night.
“Chris sure has made a case for himself to play every day but we’ll see,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said if Luis Avilan remains on course, the Braves will likely option Carpenter back to Gwinnett to make room on the roster when Freeman returns Monday.
