Freeman’s procedure in Los Angeles debrided and removed loose bodies from the right ankle that plagued him throughout October.
Watching any portion of the postseason made it clear that Freddie Freeman was dealing with a badly sprained right ankle throughout October. On Thursday, the Dodgers first baseman had surgery on said ankle, the team announced.
The procedure, which was performed by Dr. Kenneth Jung at the Kerlan Jobe clinic in Los Angeles, included debridment and removal of loose bodies in Freeman’s ankle. The Dodgers say Freeman is expected to participate in baseball activities during spring training.
Freeman sprained the ankle on September 26, during the final week of the regular season, and played through it during October. It was later revealed that Freeman also played through a cracked rib suffered right before the NLDS. The team managed his playing time as much as possible, getting him out early in five games and sitting him entirely three times through the first two rounds.
By the World Series Freeman’s ankle felt much better, and after no extra-base hits through his first eight postseason games, he homered in each of the first four games of the World Series, including winning Game 1 with an iconic walk-off grand slam, the first of its kind in the history of the Fall Classic.
Freeman against the Yankees hit .300/.364/1.000 and drove in a record 12 runs in only five games to win World Series MVP.