Freddie Freeman’s sprained right wrist kept him out of the Braves lineup for a second consecutive game Friday, and he was hopeful but not certain about returning this weekend for one or both remaining games of a three-game series against New York.
“It’s a little bit better,” said Freeman, who hurt the wrist a week ago, but continued playing until the pain forced him to leave Wednesday’s game against Boston in the seventh inning. “It’s taking some time. It’s still sore, it’s still day to day.”
He got a cortisone injection in the wrist after leaving Wednesday’s game, and Freeman was told it could take 48 to 72 hours for the medicine to take effect. He hopes to be back in the lineup Saturday, but said it could linger through the weekend.
One thing of which he was certain: The 15-day disabled list has not been discussed, and he said it wouldn’t be.
“No, that’s not an option,” Freeman said. “I won’t allow that.”
Freeman has hit .316 with 25 extra-base hits and 33 RBIs in his past 49 games, and had seven homers, 18 RBIs and a .662 slugging percentage in his last 19 games.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Friday afternoon that Freeman’s wrist was “a lot better today than yesterday. Today I could use him for defensive purposes later in the game. I think we’ll try to stay away from him completely. Hopefully we score 10 runs and won’t have to use him. Give him another day for that medicine to work.”
Freeman played in 234 consecutive games, including 233 starts, before sitting out Thursday’s series finale against the Red Sox. That was the longest active games-played streak in the majors, and no one else has an active streak as long as 200 games.
The last time Freeman had a right-wrist injury was 2009 in Double-A, he said, when he was shut down in the final weeks of the season so that he’d be ready for Arizona Fall League ball. Because of what he calls a “violent” swing follow-through, in which he snaps the wrist of his bottom (right) hand late in his swing, Freeman said it would be easy to further aggravate it if he tried to play before it was completely healed.
He was asked whether the injury might linger through the weekend.
“It could,” he said. “That’s the thing. I’m very hopeful that it’s not, but just knowing my swing, just one little thing could set it right back. Obviously I want to be in there against a division rival, so hopefully if I can get better today, if the cortisone – I did get the cortison at 8:30 on Wednesday, so it’s still not 48 hours yet. I’m on a dose pack (anti-inflammatory medication) and more medicine, so hopefully everything kicks in and I’ll be good to go tomorrow.”
After Freeman injured the wrist on a swing late in Saturday’s 11-inning win against the Mets in New York, he could barely swing the bat the following day. But when Gonzalez asked him about it, Freeman said he felt OK and hit about five balls flipped to him in the batting cage.
“Fredi was watching me take like five flips, and I said, I’m good, it doesn’t hurt,” Freeman said. Then he smiled. “I wanted to cry when he walked away, it hurt so bad.”
Freeman had hoped the pain would be tolerable until this Sunday, when he could take a cortisone shot after the day game and have nearly 48 hours until the next game because of the team’s day off Monday. But that plan was scrapped when the pain worsened this week.
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