Before he left SunTrust Park late Wednesday, Braves slugger Freddie Freeman told team officials that as long as his left wrist wasn’t broken, he was going to play Thursday.
He played Thursday -- and played well.
The Braves, their fans and their best player all breathed a sigh of relief after X-rays and other tests showed no fracture in Freeman’s wrist from the pitch that hit him in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 7-3 win against the Phillies.
“This is the best news I could have gotten today,” Freeman said a few hours before a series opener against the Mets. “X-rays came back negative. All is well with the bone.
“I told (general manager) Alex (Anthopoulos) and (assistant GM) Perry (Minasian) and everybody last night, I said if it’s not broken I’m playing today. And it’s not broken, so I’m in there.”
Not only did he play, Freeman went 2-for-3 with two singles and a sacrifice fly and made a terrific diving defensive play in a 12-4 rout against the Mets. He was replaced after seven innings as Braves manager Brian Snitker took advantage of the one-sided score to get Freeman out a little early.
“He hit the ball really well,” Snitker said. “Didn’t show signs of any discomfort or anything like that…. Good to get him out (before the end of the game), he can get treatment and all that and be ready to go again tomorrow.”
Snitker, when asked Thursday afternoon if he had any hesitancy in putting Freeman back in the lineup the next day, looked at the questioner and said, “Hell, no.”
The pitch Wednesday from Phillies left-hander Hoby Milner hit Freeman in almost the exact spot where a fastball from Blue Jays lefty Aaron Loup hit him 11 months ago in the 37th game of the 2017 season, breaking a small carpal bone (pisiform) and landing Freeman on the disabled list for seven weeks.
At the time of that incident, Freeman led the National League in homers (14), was second in on-base (.461) and slugging percentage (.748), and was sixth in batting average (.341). The only Brave in the Atlanta era to hit more homers to that point of a season was the legendary Hank Aaron.
This year, the Braves are off to a better start (10-7) and haven’t been quite as heavily reliant upon Freeman as they have in previous seasons.
But make no mistake, he’s the most important player on the team and everyone knows it.
When he got hit, a hush came over the crowd at SunTrust Park, and the air seemed to be sucked out of the place as Freeman gave a look of pain and frustration after being hit, then almost immediately walked off the field and up a dugout hallway, not waiting to be examined by the trainer.
“Because it missed my pisiform bone by about a half an inch,” Freeman said. “So I knew it was really close to that area, and it was throbbing last night, so I just went and walked right up to the X-ray room. That was (the reason for) my first reaction. ...
“It was pretty painful, still is pretty painful. But I just knew it was very closer to the similar location as last year, so … we were winning and it was the eighth inning. I kind of paused at home plate and then just said, well, I’ll just take this in and get it checked out, get some ice on it as fast as I can.”
Losing Freeman for any significant stretch could’ve been a big blow to the Braves’ early progress. He entered Thursday with a .288 average, two homers, 12 RBIs (second on the team), 18 walks (second in the NL) and a .468 OBP that ranked fourth in the NL. Other hitters in the Braves lineup see better pitches with Freeman around because teams focus on Freeman and try not to let him beat them.
Freeman has been hit in his hands and wrist multiple times in the minor and major leagues, but the big left-handed hitter said he’s not going to change where he stands in the batter’s box or how aggressively he approaches lefties.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “That’s how I hit, that’s how I hit against lefties. Not going to change anything tonight, either, against (Mets lefty) Jerry Blevins or whoever comes in. If they try to throw in hopefully I’ll get my hand out of the way. If not, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. ...
“I have a pad that’s built into my batting glove for my pisiform; this was more on the side of my wrist. There’s nothing you can really do. It’s how I hit, it’s how I stand, I’m not changing it. I’ve just got to get out of the way.”
Former Braves slugger Fred McGriff noted this spring how Freeman is susceptible to being hit in the hands, wrists or face because he, like plenty of other hitters, rotates his shoulders toward the pitcher when a pitch is coming inside toward him, rather than rotating the other direction.
X-rays taken at the ballpark after he left the game were negative, and Freeman was told by team physician and noted hand specialist Dr. Gary Lourie that he didn’t think it was broken. But the Braves and Lourie wanted to wait to announce anything until after Freeman was re-examined Thursday and had a CT scan to rule out any small fractures. He was at Lourie’s office at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
“I was pretty ecstatic last night (after X-rays came back negative),” Freeman said. “Last year there was about an 80 percent chance it was broke when I left. This time Dr. Lourie said, ‘I don’t think it’s broken at all.’
“I went to his office this morning and we did some more tests, some more X-rays, so then I went through a CT just to clear everything up. I got done about 12:45 (p.m.) and I knew nothing was broken then. So I got to the field, got some treatment and here I am.”
Snitker slept a little easier Wednesday after being told the bone probably wasn’t broken, but he wasn’t entirely relieved until after more exams Thursday ruled out a fracture. Freeman got to the ballpark, got treatment, took 25 swings with manageable discomfort and iced down afterward.
“I found out this morning that everything was good, but until he actually gets here and torques the bat a little bit you don’t know,” Snitker said. “But he told me last night before he left that he wasn’t not playing. I figured it had to be something really bad before he wouldn’t play.”
Freeman has been known for not letting on how much he’s hurting, and gave no indication Thursday that would change. When asked if he would tell Snitker if his wrist started hurting, he smiled and said, “Probably not.”
If Freeman weren’t able to play for a game or two, Snitker said he would be comfortable using any of three utility players on the current roster at first base: Ryan Flaherty and Charlie Culberson, who have major league experience at the position, and Johan Camargo, who was activated from the disabled list Wednesday.
