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Freddie Freeman just reminded everyone why the Dodgers still revolve around him originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For a few days, there was some big time concern around Freddie Freeman. The Los Angeles Dodgers star had not recorded a hit since May 13, manager Dave Roberts revealed he had been playing through an illness, and questions were beginning to surface about whether Los Angeles needed to give the veteran first baseman a short break.
Then Freeman delivered the kind of performance only elite hitters seem capable of producing at exactly the right moment. Against the rival San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, Freeman erupted for his first multi-home run game of the season, helping lift the Dodgers to a massive 5-4 victory and pushing Los Angeles back into first place in the NL West.
If there was any concern about Freeman fading into the background of this Dodgers roster, Tuesday served as a reminder that the lineup still runs through him when the games matter most.
Freddie Freeman flipped the entire series mood
The timing of Freeman’s breakout mattered almost as much as the production itself. The Dodgers entered San Diego trying to stabilize themselves during another stretch of injury concerns and lineup inconsistency. Mookie Betts and Blake Snell have already missed time this season, and Freeman’s recent slump only added to the tension surrounding a tightly packed division race. Instead of fading further, Freeman changed the tone completely.
His early two-run homer immediately gave the Dodgers life, and his later game-tying blast in the sixth inning shifted momentum back toward Los Angeles at a point where the Padres appeared ready to take control. The performance snapped an 0-for-16 stretch and instantly quieted concerns about his offensive rhythm.
More importantly, it showed the Dodgers still have one of baseball’s most dangerous postseason-caliber hitters capable of taking over games by himself.
Dodgers face difficult balancing act moving forward
Even with the huge night, the bigger storyline surrounding Freeman may not disappear entirely. Roberts publicly acknowledging Freeman has been under the weather raises legitimate questions about how aggressively Los Angeles should manage his workload over the next few weeks. The Dodgers are chasing another division title, but they are also clearly thinking about October from the moment the season begins.
That creates a complicated situation. Freeman remains too important to remove from the lineup for long stretches, especially while the offense continues working through injuries and inconsistency elsewhere. Yet Tuesday’s game also highlighted how much pressure the Dodgers place on him to anchor everything offensively.
At 36 years old, that is not insignificant over a six-month season.
MORE: James Wood delivered one of baseball’s rarest moments in win
Freeman’s response felt familiar
One reason the Dodgers have remained so steady during this era is because their stars almost always answer adversity quickly. Freeman did exactly that Tuesday. After the game, he credited adjustments in the batting cage and eliminating what he called a “cut swing” mechanically. The immediate turnaround highlighted something veteran stars often understand better than younger hitters: slumps in baseball can reverse just as quickly as they arrive.
Now the Dodgers must decide whether Freeman’s monster night means he is fully back on track or whether protecting him physically still needs to remain part of the conversation. Either way, Los Angeles got the reminder it desperately needed.
When Freeman is locked in, the Dodgers still look like a team nobody wants to face.
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