Freddie Freeman (knee) out Wednesday vs. Reds

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.

Freeman missed yesterday’s game with right knee discomfort and was limited to DH on Tuesday. The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya writes that there’s no guarantee he’s back in the lineup on Friday. The best read of this is that he’s day-to-day, but it doesn’t sound like there’s any guarantee he’ll be ready to play this weekend.

Hernández’s homer off Tony Santillan was his third in 30 games this season. He knocked in four runs for the first time since way back on July 23, 2020, when he had his only ever five-RBI game against the Giants.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani is available off the bench and is expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday. Tommy Edman moves up to the leadoff spot with Freddie Freeman getting off his feet at DH while Enrique Hernández covers first base. Ohtani went 0-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts in his return to Los Angeles’ lineup during Monday’s win over the Reds after missing four games with ongoing knee and biceps issues. The 32-year-old two-way superstar told reporters afterwards that he’s going to focus exclusively on hitting for the rest of the season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Dodgers carefully manage his workload for the final three weeks of the season to keep his as healthy as possible heading into the playoffs.

Freeman had been stuck on 15 homers since July 4 before hitting a ball 416 feet tonight. It was his 383rd career homer, moving him past Frank Howard, Ryan Howard and Jim Rice and into a tie with Larry Walker for 74th place all-time. The five times on base moved him past Lou Brock and Fred McGriff into 62nd place all-time at 3,836.

Thomas had been the Dodgers’ center fielder against righties since Andy Pages went down, but it seems the team will go with Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernádez out there now. Thomas went 4-for-19 with three RBI in 10 days with the club.

Another nice game means more overtaking Hall of Famers on all-time lists for Freeman. His 579th double broke a tie with Wade Boggs, putting him in 24th place there. He overtook Ernie Banks and moved into a tie with Reggie Jackson for 89th on the hits list at 2,586, and he’s now in 64th place in times on base at 3,830, one more than David Ortiz.

Both of Freeman’s hits were line drive singles, and he also walked once. His RBI tonight was the 1,384th of his career, moving him past Hall of Famer Joe Medwick and into a tie with should-be Hall of Famer Dwight Evans for 82nd on the all-time list. He’s 107 ahead of Paul Goldschmidt for the RBI lead among active major leaguers.

They’ll take a seat against LHP Chris Sale. Alex Call will draw the start and bat seventh for Tucker; this appears to just be a routine day off. Enrique Hernández is playing third for Muncy and Muncy appears to be in some danger of losing at-bats against lefties now that Hernández is back.