NEW YORK (AP) — All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman is out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' starting lineup for Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
Freeman has been playing with a badly sprained and swollen right ankle throughout the postseason. He also missed Game 4 of the Division Series at San Diego with the Dodgers facing elimination.
“He’s in a lot of pain out there. You can see it when he’s running and all that. But he’s inspiring us as players, as a teammate. Willing to put his body on the line,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “It’s impressive. It gets us going. We love when he’s in there. He’s been swinging it good for us. Unfortunately he’s not in there today, but I know he’s back in there tomorrow.”
Los Angeles held a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS going into Thursday night's game at Citi Field. With the Mets starting veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, the Dodgers moved Max Muncy from third base to first and Kiké Hernández from center field to third base.
Rookie outfielder Andy Pages, a right-handed batter, was set to start in center, hitting eighth. Pages also played center in Game 2 against left-hander Sean Manaea.
Teoscar Hernández moved up to Freeman's regular No. 3 spot in the order. Switch-hitting shortstop Tommy Edman batted cleanup, followed by Hernández and the lefty-swinging Muncy.
Edman has a .726 career OPS and has never had more than 13 homers or 57 RBIs in any of his six major league seasons. But he was batting .321 this postseason and was 5 for 11 (.455) with four RBIs during the NLCS.
Chris Taylor was at second base, batting ninth, instead of Gavin Lux — a left-handed hitter who missed Game 2 because of a right hip flexor injury. Lux returned in Game 3 against right-hander Luis Severino and finished 0 for 4 with a strikeout, never getting the ball past the pitcher.
Freeman sprained his ankle while running through first base against the Padres during the final week of the regular season. An eight-time All-Star and the 2020 NL MVP with Atlanta, he was 7 for 27 (.259) with one RBI and no extra-base hits during these NL playoffs.
“It's the right decision,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He took it like a professional.”
New York also made a lineup change, starting Harrison Bader in center field over Tyrone Taylor.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza explained that Bader had three “really good at-bats” against Game 4 Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto back in April.
“Taylor is a pretty good defender. Bader is an elite defender,” Mendoza said. “Again, just three at-bats, but I don’t think anybody had that much of a sample size against Yamamoto. We only faced him once. So I just decided to go with him.”
Taylor was hitting .138 (4 for 29) in the postseason with two doubles, three walks and eight strikeouts. He made a spectacular catch on the right-center warning track to limit Edman to a sacrifice fly early in Game 3.
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