Freddie Freeman withdraws from the World Baseball Classic for personal reasons

Freddie Freeman will not play in the World Baseball Classic in March.

Freeman, 36, has withdrawn from representing Canada at the tournament for “personal reasons.” Sportsnet reported this on Saturday.

Relief pitcher Jordan Romano has also been ruled out of the tournament, the outlet said.

With Freeman absent, Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor will likely start the tournament in place of the former MVP.

It’s unclear what exactly prompted Freeman to leave the WBC, but the first baseman has previously indicated he wanted to play for Team Canada in the spring but was dealing with “a little health issue,” Baseball Canada said this in December.

The Athletic also reported this that despite Freeman wanting to participate, Canadian manager Ernie Whitt said it was not established that he could play and that he had to “have some procedures done”.

The exact details of Freeman’s health issues are unknown, but the nine-time All-Star did suffer a few injuries this past MLB season, including lingering ankle issues stemming from his 2024 season.

Freeman – who is from California but has Canadian citizenship through his parents – has represented Canada twice in his professional baseball career at the 2017 and 2023 WBCs.

Despite injuries, Freeman put together an impressive 2025 campaign for the Dodgers, posting a slash line of .295/.367/.502 along with 39 doubles and 24 home runs, helping Los Angeles capture its second consecutive World Series title.

In December, Freeman talked about what it meant to him to win the World Series in Canada, referencing his late mother, who is from Toronto, about what made the experience so special for him.

“Every time I go back to Toronto, I always have little butterflies in my stomach because it’s a place where my mother grew up, was born and raised, worked in office buildings in downtown Toronto and stuff like that,” Freeman said during an appearance on the “6-1-1 Podcast.” “So you just feel a little bit closer to her, and it seems like I always play pretty well when I go there. It’s not about playing well, it’s about, ‘Man, this is cool. I’m in a place where my mom was 50, 60 years ago.’

“It’s just those little moments and it distracts you from what you’re trying to do and what you’re dealing with. It’s, ‘This is cool. I’m in a place where my mom grew up.’ To be honest, when we won there, I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I just won in my mom and dad’s home country.’ That was true, we won.”