Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was not scheduled to play in Canada's World Baseball Classic game Wednesday and is likely out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
Freeman appeared to tweak his hamstring during his second at-bat of Tuesday's 5-0 victory over Colombia. The Dodgers requested that Freeman not play in Canada's Pool C finale Wednesday and will assess the veteran's availability if his team manages to advance in the tournament.
"He's out of this tournament for now; the Dodgers decided that," Canada manager Ernie Whitt said of Freeman. "He's over in camp right now getting looked at by the doctors and training staff."
The Dodgers already lost shortstop Gavin Lux for the season with a knee injury. Freeman is the anchor of the top of the Dodgers' order, which lost Trea Turner to free agency this past offseason.
Freeman was an All-Star during his first season in Los Angeles in 2022, batting .325 with a .918 OPS and 21 home runs with 100 RBIs. He finished fourth in National League MVP voting. In seven spring games, he hit three home runs with eight RBIs before leaving for the WBC and was 2-for-10 with an RBI in three games for Canada.
Freeman, 33, played his first 12 major league seasons with the Atlanta Braves and is a .298 career hitter with an .895 OPS, 292 home runs and 1,041 RBIs over 1,724 games. The Southern California native was the NL MVP in 2020.
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