In a word, “Yes!”
It’s hard to argue that any prospect in the Dodgers’ system made a bigger leap this season than Freeland. The UCF alum has skyrocketed his stock in 2024, powering through three levels with 14 home runs and an impressive .823 OPS. Already recognized as a solid defensive shortstop with a cannon for an arm, Freeland’s newfound offensive prowess could see him stepping onto Dodger Stadium’s turf as soon as next season.
Freeland’s journey to this point is nothing short of remarkable. Born with a clubfoot, he underwent multiple surgeries as an infant to correct the condition. Despite his right foot being smaller and limited in mobility, he never let that hinder his baseball dreams. At UCF, Freeland hammered 18 home runs over two seasons as the starting shortstop, catching the Dodgers’ eye, who nabbed him in the third round as a draft-eligible sophomore.
In his first full season at High-A Great Lakes in 2023, Freeland flashed not only elite defensive skills but also promising offensive potential. A physical and athletic switch-hitter, he brings high energy and competitiveness to the plate. While he swings aggressively, Freeland demonstrates solid strike zone discipline and the potential to hit for both average and power, particularly from the left side. His explosive lefthanded swing yielded a .262 average and .740 OPS last year, compared to a .149 average and .579 OPS from the right side. Improvement in plate coverage and possibly dropping his righthanded swing could elevate him to a fringe-average hitter with double-digit home run potential.
Defensively, Freeland defies expectations for someone with his 6-foot-2 frame and average speed. He’s a fluid mover with sharp instincts, positioning himself well and covering enough ground to remain at shortstop. With a steady glove and a plus, accurate arm, he projects as an average defender who can hold his own at the position. Baseball America has taken notice, ranking him as the Dodgers’ #3 prospect—a testament to his rising star. MLB.com has him as the Dodger’s #4 Prospect, with only Dalton Rushing, Josue DePaula, and River Ryan ahead of him.
Because of Freeland, I do not think the Dodgers will try and sign a SS over the winter. Sorry Willy Adames! Miggy Rojas could start the season at SS, and when the time is right (and it could be early), Alex Freland could assume the position… or at least platoon with Miggy Ro. At age 36, that might be a perfect situation for Miggy. Alex may never be suitable as a RH batter, but he has opened my eyes this year. Maybe he will just hit LH in the future, although he has improved as a RH hitter this year. His first AAA Home Run was RH.
Over the next few weeks, I will profile the Dodger’s other Top Prospects.
Last Night…
Well, when you score two runs, you don’t win nearly as much as when you score five runs, which is the Dodgers’ average. Even Ray Charles can see that! By the way, as a leadoff hitter, Mookie Betts is OPS’ing .866 while Shohei Ohtani is now OPS’ing 1.000 in the leadoff spot. Clearly, Ohtani is the better choice. To put it in perspective, it means that Shohei “averages” each at bat, starting on 1B, while Mookie averages every AB 86 percent of the way there. Ohtani is the best choice at leadoff… provided you have other hitters to hit behind him. The Yankees can’t afford to have Aaron Judge hit leadoff because they don’t have the depth of hitters that the Dodgers do. The Dodgers are still three games up on both the Padres and the D-Bags. Buehler and Miller have an opportunity to step up. Will they? That’s why they play the games.
Still wondering about Freddie. I thought they should have given him a rest with the fracture. Instead they put him out there because he says he wants to play. So he plays and doesn’t hit and finally sat down yesterday. So it probably got worse. We are not in clubhouse, its great to be a tough guy but not much margin of error with playoffs a month away
I am sure his finger is an issue and his son’s issues are also weighing on him. This will be a process for Max, so I think this is a mental and physical break for Freddie. Personally, I would hold him out at least a week… or until he has no pain in the finger.
He’ll be in there for the AZ series.
Freddie should go on the IL. No sense in playing through a fracture. It prolongs the healing process and affects performance. Give him the necessary time to heal and spend some quality time with his son while in the IL.
Wednesday schedules
1 p.m. PT: Rancho Cucamonga (Hyun-Seok Jang) at San Jose (Ryan Vanderhei)
4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Peter Heubeck) at South Bend (Drew Gray)
4:35 p.m.: Tulsa (Jerming Rosario) at Corpus Christi (James Hicks)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) at Round Rock (TBA)
“Yamamoto is scheduled to pitch two innings in his first minor league rehab start. Landon Knack will follow on the mound Wednesday, which would seemingly open the door for Justin Wrobleski to potentially be called up Sunday, September 1 when rosters expand, should the Dodgers decide to insert a starting pitcher to give the rest of the rotation an extra day of rest”.
Interesting back story on Freeland. Those are the kind of players who make a difference because they overcame obstacles just to play the game.
Fractured fingers are pretty much a pain management issue. It was obviously bothering Freeman and becoming pain free will take time.
Crazy season for injuries.
It seems obvious the Dodgers love Dalton Rushing’s bat and his future is in the outfield. That’s why they refused to part with him at the trade deadline even though he was blocked at catcher.
The Dodgers have some potential openings in the outfield next year. Maybe they intend to get younger. Will they bring back Teoscar? I’m not sure. Maybe they want to lighten the payroll.
Hated to see Jason Heyward let go. Caused some issues in the clubhouse apparently. Some players weren’t happy he was released. Hey, it’s a big happy family until it’s a business.
I wouldn’t have done that, but then I would have kept Justin Turner.
As for Yamamoto, if he’s good to go he’s a top flight pitcher and the Dodgers need playoff pitchers.
Not certain about Glasnow. The Dodgers tend to underplay injuries. Hopefullly they get him back and he’s on his game. We’ll see.
I wasn’t going to say it, but yes, Freddie is upset that J-Hey is gone.
He will get over it….
It seems that many Dodger fans are up in arms (pun intended) over Tyler Glasnow’s elbow tendonitis.
Here’s what I think:
1. Glasnow had a UCL injury that was undiagnosed for several years. It was the same injury that persisted over a four-year period, which finally included Tommy John Surgery. He has not had several elbow injuries as some outlets have reported.
2. Elbow tendonitis is an entirely different animal than a UCL tear. The UCL is a ligament while tendonitis is of a tendon.
3. Of course, the Dodgers are known to be very thrifty on giving up any details, but from what we have read and heard, I am not worrying about UCL damage.
Boy, it is sure quieter when no morons comment.
Traffic is still at an all-time high… so thanks for reading!
Haha! I was just going to post about how much I’m enjoying the way toned down comment section here! I went and took a look at where all the riff Raff went to and man, the comment section there is a cluster today! Reminds me of here about a month or so ago. Good job!
Those are not morons – they are idiots!
The quality of the content is key Mark. Just because folks like me don’t post it doesn’t mean we do not value good content. When you allow “morons” to control the narrative, it brings down the value of the site as a whole. By banning trolls from the site, you have created a win-win on multiple fronts:
1. You seem more at peace with yourself;
2. You removed the “morons” from your life;
3. The content value is as good as ever;
4. People like me come to read quality Dodger content without shuffling through an emotional roller coaster of insanity; and
5. When we don’t agree with something, we agree to disagree and move on to the next big topic.
Thank you for keeping this place sane.
I don’t mind disagreement.
I dislike Idiots.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Glasnow’s progress from his elbow injury has been “slow moving” and indicated that the hurler will need a rehab assignment prior to returning,
“When Glasnow landed on the injured list Aug. 16, the level of concern about the right-hander was relatively low, especially considering that Glasnow said that he pushed the team not to place him on the IL or even to skip his start. However, there’s now at least a bit more worry given that the All-Star hurler has made slower-than-expected progress. Glasnow did begin a throwing program this past weekend, and even with a rehab assignment a necessity before he can return to the Dodgers’ rotation, it’s possible that he could be back with the big club in mid-September”.
All a slow play to ensure he is at Peak performance for October.
I hope you’re right.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Tuesday at Dodger Stadium that Barnes will be activated from the IL Thursday — the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles. That’s the first day Barnes is eligible to return.
10:10 PM ET
Orioles (77-56)
Dodgers (78-54)
SP Corbin Burnes R
12-6 3.28 ERA
SP Walker Buehler R
1-4 6.09 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
RF Mookie Betts R
2B Gavin Lux L
LF T. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
C Will Smith R
SS Tommy Edman S
CF K. Kiermaier L
1B E. Hernandez R
72° Wind 9 mph Out
NO Freddie Freeman
That post-homer swagger is the first time I even thought Hoese might get a look some day. Amazing comeback from nowheresville.
I think Hoese will be a major leaguer, but probably not with the Dodgers.
I did not think that until this year. He now has a shot!
I think Hoese is Rule 5 eligible this year so I wish they had brought him up earlier this year when Muncy was out.
He could be a late bloomer like JT.
Therein lies the rub. The Dodgers have a lot of those players. Lipcius is another who has MLB written all over him. Many fans do not understand how deep this system is.
Not many superstars, but lots of solid players.
The interesting thing is that neither Hoese or Lipcius are ranked.
Buehler is pitching like the old Walker.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers defense and Will Smith with his head up his>>>>> costs Walker 2 runs.
Walker has to get 5 outs this inning… and he doesn’t.
This is bad and Walker deserved better.
Yamamoto pitched 2 innings for OKC tonight.
He gave up a HR and was 94-96 on his fastball.
He looked solid.
He will get another rehab start next week.
Kumar Rocker was pitching for the opposition and he was high 90’s with 10 Ks in 5 IP.
I agree with you on the Dodgers approach to shortstop in this upcoming off-season. This is an older baseball team, especially on the position player side. I would like to see a bridge like Rojas/Edman at the shortstop position next year until Freeland is ready. Can always adjust at trade deadline if needed. Rushing and Pages should also be with the Dodgers next year.
Enough about next year though. Encouraging start from Buehler. Happy for him personally. What an addition to their starting rotation if he can pitch like this into October. In a season with so many injuries and underperforming depth for much of the year, it is a testament to their organization and manager that they are tied for the best record in baseball. They are due some good fortune this year. Also due for the Diamondbacks and Padres to regress to the mean at some point. They are both very good teams but not this good.
The way the brain trust works is that Bueller and Taylor will see a lot of playing time in the next month, auditioning for a playoff roster spot. Of course all the shortsighted game by game drama queens( really didn’t know grown men were so touchy and bitchy about one loss, they don’t even see the chessboard that Freidman and Roberts are running) want to jump off a ledge when we lose a game, don’t even realize that both Walker and Taylor are HUGE if they can turn it around in time for October, that’s why both are being given a bit of a runway, Freidman and Doc need to see what they have in those two before they make a decision. Trust the process, even when the Dodgers lose, things are carefully thought out and analyzed with this front office. I’m going with them and the track record of the past 10 years. It will all work out in the end.
It would be great if Freeland is ready next year.
But if he isn’t Edman could be the SS rather than Rojas. Miggy may be aging like fine wine, but he could turn into vinegar.
Let’s assume something we shouldn’t really count on: That Teo signs a long-term deal with the Dodgers.
With Lux playing so well at 2B, the OF would feature Mookie, Teo and a job opening. Who fills it?
Assuming Kiermaier indeed retires, Pages would be the leading candidate, but his defense is shaky and he’s best off in a corner. Outman is one season removed from a .790 OPS–and he’s a quality defender in CF. And maybe Rushing proves he could be OK in LF–and he seems to have the most offensive upside.
If two of these guys make the team, perhaps they’d play in a platoon.
If Rushing or Pages make the lineup, Mookie could shift from RF to CF. No big deal for a guy who could shift to SS. Teo is good in either corner.
It would be exciting if either Freeland or Rushing can make the leap.
Walker was looking good last night until!! Max butchered an easy throw. What was Will thinking? the ball wasn’t close to being caught . and when he finally did throw it down to kiki , he lobbed it! Now Walker did give up a couple of hard hit balls, but they probably don’t happen without the 2 brain farts! Encouraging i think! …. Hopefully this “Heyward “ thing doesn’t trouble Freddie rest of the season. Need him badly for postseason! …. Have to admit, that home run ohtani hit looked like a check swing! damn that dude is strong!! …. Never thought i’d say this, Barnes might end up catching more and more when he gets back. Will is spiraling downward in an alarming manner. …. The Orioles have a lot of exciting young players! But! i can’t anoint them as the team of the future just yet. Burnes looked mortal last night. They have a ways to go. ……. Beating the dead horse drum again! Make Teo an offer , please! Next 5 games could determine who wins the west! Go Blue!