PHOENIX – Freddie Freeman was back in the Braves lineup for Monday night’s series opener at Arizona, not quite 48 hours after getting a cortisone injection in his right middle finger for pain and inflammation he’s had around the knuckle since spring training.
And on the first pitch he saw Monday, what did he do? Hit a home run, his 25th of the season — his high before this year was 23 – and his seventh homer in 16 games at Chase Field, where Freeman was hitting over .400 and slugging over .800 after his two-run shot Monday gave the Braves a first-inning lead.
He was out of the lineup Sunday for only the second time this season, after getting the shot late Saturday when the knuckle swelled following batting practice before that night’s game. Freeman was told the injection would require about 48 hours to take full effect.
“It feels like it did before it blew up on me,” he said after testing the finger with some swings Monday afternoon prior to the team’s regular batting practice. “So it’s back to how it’s been all season. It just blew up on me right before the game (Saturday), I took a weird, funky swing in the cage. I could hardly grip the bat.
“Cortisone shots are usually 48 hours, so it’ll be almost 48 hours at 7:30 tonight Arizona time. (Monday’s scheduled start was 6:40 p.m. in Arizona, 9:40 p.m. Eastern time). I hit in the cage, got treatment, it’s just back to how it’s been. Been like that since spring training. Some days are bad, some days are good, but I’ve been able to grind it out.”
Neither the finger injury nor a cracked rib in June have held back Freeman. He’s used a robust second half to boost his overall stats and make this one of his best seasons in several offensive categories, batting .287 with 61 extra-base hits, a .382 OBP and .529 slugging percentage in 122 games before Monday.
In his past 61 games going back to June 13, he was among baseball’s most productive hitters, batting .332 with 15 home runs, 40 RBIs, a .428 OBP and .664 slugging percentage in that span before Monday. And in 14 games before finally sitting one out Sunday, he hit .400 (18-for-45) with five doubles, six homers, 15 RBIs and and a .556 OBP and .911 slugging percentage.
Freeman had not disclosed the finger injury to reporters – and didn’t plan to — until it became obvious Sunday that something was amiss, that he wasn’t just getting a day off. That became apparent when he wasn’t sent in to pinch-hit in a crucial late-innings situation in that 10-inning win against the Nationals.
He said he had no idea how the injury initially occurred during spring training, that he couldn’t remember any specific swing or getting jammed by a pitch or anything else. X-rays in April showed no break and Freeman said he might ask for an MRI after the season if the pain continues.
“I got a cortisone (shot) the first day of the All-Star break and that lasted until, I think, the third game in Cincinnati (July 20), when it blew up on me again,” he said. “But I was able to play the next day. So, just deal with the pain. But it got to the point two days ago where I wasn’t going to make it.”
Before getting the shot Saturday and sitting out Sunday’s game, Freeman had intended to keep playing, not say anything publicly about the finger injury, and wait until his pregnant wife Chelsea went into labor. She’s due to deliver their first child in September.
“I was trying to make it to when my baby was born, so I could get a shot the first day I was going to miss for three days for paternity leave,” Freeman said, “but I wasn’t going to make it (after the finger swelled Saturday). I wasn’t going to make it, unless she goes into labor three days ago. So, it’s back to how it was before. Obviously it still hurts.”
