LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Any concerns about lingering issues with Freddie Freeman’s right wrist were reduced after he took batting practice Friday for the second time in three days. The Braves first baseman reported no soreness from either session.
Freeman didn’t take any swings in “live” batting practice thrown by Braves pitchers Friday, but instead took part in the coach-pitch hitting session, facing the modest fastballs thrown by one of the Braves coaches.
The Braves didn’t want him swinging against 90-plus miles-an-hour fastballs from their pitchers just yet, since Freeman hadn’t hit any overhanded pitching in more than four months until he took a few rounds of batting practice Wednesday against hitting coach Kevin Seitzer.
“He feels good,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He didn’t swing in live pitching, only against coaches, but he said he felt great…. There’s no restrictions. But you know, one day he’s going to come in and feel a little sore. So we’ll monitor him. As far as right now, he’s feeling pretty darn good.”
Freeman missed 44 games last season and had two stints on the disabled list and multiple injections in his right wrist, which he injured in June.
None of the treatments or rest alleviated the pain for any significant period, and it wasn’t until his most recent cortisone injection in mid-December that Freeman finally felt comfortable swinging a bat.
The day after his Wednesday hitting session, Freeman said, “I’m not sore today, that’s the big thing. Probably once I get hitting multiple days, that will be the big test for me. I’ve only hit back-to-back days one time (and that was off a tee). That was during FanFest, the last time I did it. Once I do that, I should be fine.”
Freeman had told Braves trainers on Thursday that he felt good to hit again, but they didn’t want him to do consecutive days yet. That could happen as soon as next week.
“The big test, we all know, is the repeating,” he said Thursday. “Having to swing 100, 200 times every day (in camp). Once I get through that, I think it will not only ease my mind but everybody else’s.
“Every time right now I still have that, like, ‘Oh, man, if I take a weird swing is it going to go?’ I’ve just got to get past that. It’s all mental for me right now. Physically I feel good, it’s just all mental. Once I get out there and start playing in games I’ll be alright.”
The Braves open their Grapefruit League schedule Tuesday at home against Baltimore, then travel to Sarasota, Fla., to face the Orioles again on Wednesday. They haven’t said when Freeman will make his spring-training debut, but he’s not expected to play right away.
He said his bat speed felt normal despite not swinging a bat for most of the offseason.
“The funny thing is, I was able to work out every single day in the offseason, no problem at all,” he said. “It was just if I opened a water bottle or anything at all that kind of impinged the wrist, that’s when I’d get (pain). But I could hold dumbbells and everything, so I didn’t lose any strength. I feel good. Now it’s just a matter of getting these little tiny muscles in (the wrist) firing up again, and once I do that, hitting every day should be no problem.”
