Freddie Freeman to hit third for NL All-Stars

The slumping slugger battled cleanup in each of the first two games of the series and was dropped down to sixth against a southpaw in Game 3 on Wednesday. Perhaps the move back to the top of the lineup will provide the offensive jolt that the Dodgers need to stave off elimination and keep their dreams of a three-peat alive. Here’s the full lineup that they will trot out against Brewers’ southpaw Shane Drohan on Thursday: Ohtani (DH), Mookie Betts (SS), Freddie Freeman (1B), Will Smith (C), Kyle Tucker (RF), Teoscar Hernandez (LF), Miguel Rojas (2B), Andy Pages (CF) and Enrique Hernandez (3B).

After having a potential go-ahead homer robbed by Braves left fielder Mauricio Dubón earlier in the contest, Freeman ensured that his next fly ball wouldn’t be caught, tattooing a 399-foot moonshot to right-center field off Atlanta ace Chris Sale to give Los Angeles a three-run advantage in the fourth inning. It was his second round-tripper of the playoffs and 18th career postseason big fly since 2012. The 37-year-old ageless wonder recorded three batted balls with exit velocities over 101 mph against his former team in this one, but only came away with one hit to show for it. The Dodgers have an opportunity to punch their ticket back to the NLCS with a win in Game 4 of the best-of-five series at Truist Park on Wednesday evening.

Even if nothing much else went right for the Dodgers tonight, it was encouraging to see Freeman jump on a Grant Holmes pitch for his first homer since Sept. 2. It was his 17th career postseason homer, tying him for 17th most all-time.

Max Muncy is also taking a seat with lefty Matt Wilkinson serving as San Francisco’s opener. It appears to be a routine off day for Freeman, who missed time with a right knee issue a couple weeks ago. The 37-year-old veteran has already played 152 games this season, hitting .290/.364/.432 with 74 runs scored, 16 homers, 70 RBI and seven steals in 654 plate appearances. It’ll be Enrique Hernández and Miguel Rojas at the infield corners in this one.

It wasn’t exactly vintage Freeman, as he had just one hard-hit ball and that barely rating at 95.8 mph, but he had as many hits as in his previous nine games this month combined. The three tonight put him at 2,590 for his career, tying him with Vladimir Guerrero for 87th place all-time.

Freeman is batting second tonight after getting Monday off to continue to recover from the knee soreness that’s been plaguing him.

As expected, Freeman takes a seat with the Dodgers managing a relatively minor right knee issue that he’s been playing through recently. The 37-year-old first baseman missed a pair of games last week due to the lingering issue, but was feeling much better over the weekend. It’ll be versatile Enrique Hernández taking over at the cold corner in his place on Monday night.

Freeman has started the last two games after sitting with knee soreness Friday, but he hasn’t been himself. Hopefully, it’ll just be one day off. The Dodgers have a very kind schedule with four games in Cincinnati and three at home versus the Giants this week, so it’d be a shame to have to sit Freeman in fantasy leagues. Kiké Hernández will likely start in his place tomorrow.

Freeman celebrates his 37th birthday by returning to first base following a two-game absence due to right knee soreness. He told reporters that he’s feeling much better after getting a couple days off to rest and recover. It doesn’t sound like the lingering knee issue will impact his availability heading into the final two weeks of the regular season. He’s put together another strong year at the plate, slashing .297/.375/.453 with 72 runs scored, 16 homers, 66 RBI and seven steals across 600 plate appearances in 140 games.

Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts told reporters that after a long travel day on Thursday, the club wanted to give him an extra day of rest to ensure that his right knee was feeling better. He is tentatively expected to return to the lineup on Saturday.