TODAY: The Dodgers officially selected Freeland’s contract, and placed Kim on the 10-day injured list in the corresponding move. Kim is dealing with bursitis in his left shoulder, and manager Dave Roberts said over the weekend that Kim had been dealing with shoulder discomfort for about a week.
JULY 28: The Dodgers are calling up top infield prospect Alex Freeland, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. They already have an opening on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need a corresponding active roster move.
Freeland, 23, ranks third among Dodger farmhands at MLB Pipeline and sixth at Baseball America. A switch-hitter who mostly divides his time between shortstop and third base, Freeland has raised his stock since being selected in the third round of the 2022 draft. The University of Central Florida product has hit .253/.372/.416 across four minor league seasons. That’s almost an exact match for this year’s .253/.377/.421 showing over 453 plate appearances at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Evaluators praise Freeland’s advanced strike zone discipline. He has walked at a massive 16.6% rate while very rarely expanding the zone in Triple-A. He takes a lot of strikes as well, leading to deep counts and slightly elevated strikeout rates despite relatively few whiffs. Freeland has shown solid bat speed. He hit 18 homers a year ago and has connected on 12 longballs and 26 doubles this season. His Triple-A exit velocities are strong as well.
Freeland is viewed as more of a solid athlete than a spectacular one. Many scouts believe he fits better at third base than shortstop as a result. Third base is obviously the much cleaner positional fit for his first MLB action. Since the Dodgers lost Max Muncy to the injured list on July 3, their third basemen have hit .203/.261/.359 in 70 plate appearances. Most of that falls on Tommy Edman, who has been mired in a three-month slump after an excellent April. Edman is capable of playing plus defense almost anywhere on the diamond, so he’ll remain a regular lineup presence. That could come more at second base, where Hyeseong Kim is hitting .204/.218/.222 this month.
Muncy is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment tomorrow. That’ll put him in position to return to MLB action not long after the trade deadline. It’s unlikely the Dodgers would’ve called Freeland up if they anticipated sending him back down in a week or two. Even after Muncy reclaims the third base job, Freeland could stick as a multi-positional bench bat who plays three or four times a week. The Dodgers have gotten rookie catcher Dalton Rushing his first MLB action in that type of role.
Sure
Miggy Ro gone? I can’t imagine them optioning Edman, even what with him being bad recently. I think everyone hopes it’s Conforto, but again can’t imagine getting rid of an outfielder for an infielder. And Muncy is coming back soon. So this will make for an interesting infield mix soon enough.
They are never getting rid of conforto — they enjoy fans screaming for him to be cut loose.
Freeland may totally fail at mlb level so dont expect him up very long this is his trial
Conforto is on fire right now anyways. .325/.400/.575 over his last 15 games, and a .792 ops over his last 30.
No my guess Kim to DL
He’s in the lineup tonight. If he’s really hurt why would they start him?
Yup, Kim has a bad shoulder, he has been injured for a few days now. Shocked he started tonight, even more surprised that Edman did not hit for Kim with the bases loaded and a lefty reliever on the mound tonight.
If Kim is playing it can’t be that bad or else they would have at least not played him before putting him on the IL. I’m guessing Outman or Ruiz. Speculation that Edman is healed enough to get some CF reps. If so, you don’t need both Outman and Ruiz. I would option Outman. Ruiz can give you the platoon with Conforto in LF and the SB threat pinch runner. I’m not sure what Outman gives you at this point besides a little bit of CF defense.
The fact that Edman didnt pinch hit says more about his health situation. He was slated to start the game and bowed out with ankle soreness. It could be Tommy is the one headed for the IL.
Good point on pinch hitting. But Edman says he’s fine and will be in tomorrow? Odd.
No chance with Miggy Ro. Outman and Ruiz would go first. Or Kim to IL
you can’t option Edman. Besides the fact that he’s good he’s been in the league for over 5 years.
The Dodgers won’t option Edman because he has a $74 million dollar contract through the 2030 season.
Edman
Is
Not
Optionable.
Edman has been in the league for five years, but he is a league average player, who has been putrid since May 1.
Edman has some considerable time to go to equal your record.
Injured. Keep up!
@Cave
Miggy Ro gone?
Are you kidding?
Esteury Ruiz is on the 26 man roster. Zero reason that he should be.
Edman doesn’t have any minor league options.
It’s possible that Kim goes on the IL, even though he’s playing tonight. He can barely swing the bat.
It might be for Ruiz or option outman
Uh, if he can barely swing the bat why would he be in the lineup. Batting 7th too. Dodgers looking to lose this game on purpose? They have Edman available too. Dodgers faced a guy throwing 100+ too. Not the guy you’d want to face with a bad shoulder. Seems like Kim is just fine.
Kim hasn’t looked fine for a few days.
Then why would they play him at 2B when Edman is available tonight? That kind of thinking makes absolutely no sense. All Roberts said is that Kim is dealing with a shoulder issue. Everyone is equating his struggles to that injury. The reality is that Kim is finally coming back to the kind of numbers he was going to post. He still struggles with velocity. Etc.
It’s possible that Edman is also dealing with a health issue.
If so, then why wouldn’t you have made the IL move BEFORE the game. So, now to fit your narrative the Dodgers have two injured infielders? If so, they sound like a very incompetent organization. We’ll see. But to me you never play a guy that is so injured that he can “barely swing the bat”. But that’s just me.
It’s not about fitting a narrative. I’m watching the game. Roberts has been quoted as saying Kim has a shoulder injury. For whatever reason, Edman has not played tonight. Perhaps we’ll learn more between this game and tomorrow’s game.
@mlbdodgerfan2015
In the post-game, Roberts addressed the health problems regarding Kim and Edman. He said he was unable to pinch-hit Edman for Kim late in the game because Edman is unable to play defense. Roberts also mentioned the possibility of one of those guys perhaps getting an IL stint. So, there’s a good chance Freeland is in the lineup tomorrow night.
The much more rational option is that Kim is dealing with a shoulder issue but plenty healthy to play or else he’d be on the IL or at the very least NOT in the lineup. And Edman is getting the day off. I’d bet on that versus the Dodgers knowingly carrying two injured IFs not on the IL and having to force a player to play injured.
I think they just caught a little short when Edman tweaked his ankle. Of the two, Kim was the better option for tonight’s game. That doesn’t mean Kim or Edman won’t wind up on the shelf for a few days—lots of moving parts this week.
Seems like they’re now saying one or the other will be on IL. This just sounds stupid and between players not communicating and/or Dodgers not properly preparing it’s not a good look. You can’t be playing a ln MLB game that supposedly one playing hurt and the other can’t play and no IL. You had plenty of time to make a move after yesterday’s game.
@MLB Do you not remember Freddie last season playing on a bad ankle with a broken finger AND a cracked rib?
Roberts just said both guys are hurt and Edman couldn’t play defense tonight. Didn’t commit which of Edman or Kim would be put on the shelf.
Edman says he tweaked the ankle again, hopes to be back tomorrow.
Ok, again this makes no sense. Why wouldn’t they have made the move yesterday after the game? And they had all day today to make that move. And Edman can’t play defense tonight but should be back tomorrow? Odd.
It was Edman indicating he “should” be back tomorrow. In the segment just prior, Roberts said Edman was unable to play three innings of defense (which is why he didn’t pinch hit for Kim with the bases loaded). I agree with you that it’s a bad look. Benches are short enough as it is without trying to squeak by with multiple “injured” players.
Since we werent told when Edman tweaked his ankle we have no idea how much time they had to make moves. Maybe he tweaked it yesterday, maybe it was today in warmups.
That’s a fair point.
Seems like they’re saying it was tweaked yesterday’s game. I don’t know. There’s conflicting messages everywhere. Dodgers are not the best about reporting injuries.
Well, shows what the average fan knows!
Always fun to see a top prospect get promoted !
I wish the cards would/could trade for him :(:(
That would be in line the New Cardinal Way of bringing prospects blocked from expected position. Did this with Gorman and Walker. Nado and Wynn not moving.
Finally got the call
Should’ve been up the second Muncy got hurt
The next Ron Cey!
Guessing Outman is the out man
Ruiz unless Kim goes to IL.
Outman seems the likely candidate for the option. At least, Ruiz is a threat as a pinch-runner….
How’s his defense? Or does that even matter anymore?
Harsh, bro. Harsh but semi-accurate.
I was only half-serious….
I watch quite a bit of OKC ball, he’s not ready for 3rd in the bigs quite yet. Much more comfortable at short.
How can someone handle short and not be ready for third?
Different angles, ball is on you sooner…etc..etc. Check his fielding avg for both positions if you don’t believe me. He struggled this year at 3rd, yet played a tidy SS. Who knows.
the learning curve from SS to 3b is way easier than 3b to SS due to having to go left and right and turn the double play. Anyone worth their salt at SS can make the switch to 3b without much trouble. Numerous examples are in MLB right this second.
Hope they stick Betts back in right and move Teo to left. Might wake up their bats….
Oh I agree with you, short is a tougher overall position…more responsibility, more ground to cover. The bottom line with Freeland, is that he’s not performed nearly as well at 3rd, than he has at short, for whatever reason. Not saying this can’t be dealt with, or course.
Betts bat speed has slowed down considerably. Could be he’s not 100% yet from his early season illness, could be his father in law’s illness was bothering him, or it could be him hitting a wall at an early age. Whatever is ailing him, isn’t because of where he’s playing defensively. Unless the team forces him back to right field, he’s not going back. He doesn’t want it, and has said so.
Suspect his defense will at the very least be equal to that of the usual starters on that side of the infield. Kinda fascinated about the walk rate tho. Really curious to see his selectivity at the plate.
So his superpower is not swinging at pitches? Not sure I’m a big fan of that being one of his “tools”. Dodger hand Andy LaRoche anyone?
Outman or Ruiz? Unless Edman is hurt again and going to the IL? Kim and Rojas in lineup tonight so probably not them.
Any chance you’d trade him to the Braves for Johnson, bummer, RI? lol sounds crazy but…
Well … it’s prob just crazy lol
One could only hope this means the Dodgers are moving Mookie back to his Gold Glove position. Hate to see a Gold Glove RF move infield only to be a very mediocre SS….
All because Gavin Lux couldn’t play SS.
“very mediocre SS”
Do you watch any games or check the defensive metrics ever?
Betts is 3rd among all SS in defensive runs saved.
This team stuffs as many superstars as it can onto the roster so in the rare case that they actually have one of their own developed players instead of their 15 purchased superstars come up they’ll hide someone on the IL with a fake injury and people will buy it because they also have so many real ones.
Mmkay.
That’s not a very impressive stat line when you consider how hitter friendly a park OKC is.
great, now move Mookie back to RF and play Freeland at SS
Dodgers doing Dodgers things. Second half of the season and players are worn down/injured and need to get healed up. Those players get rest and tended to with plenty of time to come back for the home stretch of the season to ramp up.
So they bring in some AAA talent to see how ready they are, showcase for possible trades, and overall get a better sense of who their prospects are going to be in the majors.
This is their early version of September call-ups. If a prospect catches fire they stick with the hot hand. They aren’t fighting for their record or position in the NL West, so why not?
While 4 games isn’t a huge lead, this is something they do consistently year after year.
With the pitchers we have coming back, plus a bullpen arm or two possibly coming, I don’t see the Padres overtaking them. Getting healthy is the priority at the moment. Then dialing everyone in for the final stretch.
Freeland has an MLB-ready mullet.
Unexpected move.
The F/O knows more than I do, of course, but I’m surprised they didn’t bring in an Ahmed Rosario or Nick Ahmed type instead of promoting Freeland.
I don’t see him having a starting role once Muncy is back (Freeman, Edman, Betts, Muncy). There’s already going to be a 40 player roster crunch. Seems like just a stopgap solution is needed.
Maybe
1) they just want to introduce him to MLB
2) they are considering: LF Teo, CF Edman, RF Pages the rest of the season.
3) they just think he’s ready, so why not?