Freddie Freeman must prove that it is his health and not his age that is holding him back

PHOENIX – He’s back.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was ready to make that statement about Freddie Freeman after watching him in camp for a few days.

“Right now, today, his swing is as good as I’ve seen it in a week than it has been in two years,” Roberts said.

The opinion was shared by another person in Freeman’s circle.

“That’s what my dad said,” Freeman said.

His father, Fred, who still gives him batting practice in the offseason.

The return to form, or health, comes at a potentially critical time in Freeman’s career. Freeman is now 36 and is under contract for two seasons, including next season. He reiterated last week that he would like to play two more years after that and said he wanted to end his career with the Dodgers.

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There really is no point in exploring whether the Dodgers will offer Freeman a new deal when his current contract expires. Too many things could happen between now and then.

But there is a simple way for Freeman to secure the ending he wants.

All he has to do is hit.

He needs to hit enough to prove that the decline in production over the past two seasons was a reflection of his health and not his age. He needs to hit enough to convince the Dodgers that he can still be trusted to hold a premium offensive position for a team that has championship aspirations.

Do that, and there’s no reason for Freeman not to return. He wants to be here. The Dodgers want him here.

Freeman was encouraged by the double he launched in his first exhibition game of the spring, an 11-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians Tuesday at Camelback Ranch.

“I’m already hitting a ball to left-center, so that’s a good sign,” he said.

To be clear, Freeman certainly wasn’t bad in his two most recent seasons. He hit a combined .289 over the two-year span, and his .295 average last year was third-best in the National League.

However, compared to the two years before, numbers had dropped significantly. He hit .328 in his first two seasons with the Dodgers and led the majors in doubles in both seasons.

Roberts blamed the downward trend on injuries. Freeman broke his right middle finger playing ball in August 2024. At the end of that season, he suffered an ankle injury that continued into the following season. He played in the postseason with broken rib cartilage.

“I think it’s easy to say the age, but I really believe he’s been in trouble for two years,” Roberts said.

Freeman explained that his ankle kept him from hitting until the last day of January last year.

“I thought I was doing a good job without taking care of anything in the offseason and for five months,” he said. “It’s not what I’m used to, but I still think we did well and won the World Series.”

If Freeman is healthy, can he have a season similar to 2023, when he finished with a .331 average and 59 career doubles?

“I expect to play like I normally do,” he said.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said he “wouldn’t bet against” Freeman.

“The incredibly high level of play he has maintained is unique and special, and he is doing everything he can to put himself in the best position to go out and have success,” Friedman said. “I bet it will continue to be that way.”

Friedman recalled how, in the winter before the 2022 season, he didn’t think the Dodgers would be able to sign the nine-time All-Star. Freeman had just won a World Series with the Braves, the same team that drafted him.

“I just didn’t feel like he was going to leave the Braves,” Friedman said. “It was hard to see him in another uniform.”

But the Braves wouldn’t offer him the six-year contract he wanted, and the Dodgers did. Freeman went on to forge a special bond with Los Angeles.

He was grateful for the way the fans supported him in the wake of his emotional departure from the Braves, as well as his then-three-year-old son’s battle with Guillan-Barre syndrome. He hit one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history, a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series.

“On the field, off the field, he’s been such a central figure in so many big moments, and now it’s really hard to see him in any other uniform than ours,” Friedman said.

A big season offensively for Freeman could make the sight of him in another uniform impossible.