Ankle Anxiety: Freddie Freeman Surgery Sparks Concerns About…

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Freddie Freeman underwent surgery on his right ankle consisting of debridement and the removal of loose bodies.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Kenneth Jung at Kerlan Jobe in Los Angeles.

Freeman is expected to be able to participate in baseball activities during Spring Training.

The 35-year-old first suffered a significant right ankle sprain and bone bruise on Sept. 26 against the San Diego Padres, which caused concern on whether he would be able to play in the postseason.

Freeman sustained the right ankle injury on his attempt to leg out an infield single. He avoided a head-on collision with Luis Arraez but rolled his right ankle after crossing first base.

Freeman immediately went down in pain and slowly limped off the field. He did manage to walk into the clubhouse under his own power, but replay of the sequence showed how extreme Freeman’s right ankle turned.

He ended up missing the final three games of the season and underwent countless hours of treatment to prepare himself for the playoffs. That treatment routine continued during each day of the postseason, but allowed him to stay on the roster.

Despite his injury causing significant pain and limiting him, the Dodgers never considered removing Freeman from the roster.

Freeman struggled in the National League Division Series and NL Championship Series, but he turned it around in the World Series en route to winning the MVP honors.

Freddie Freeman also dealt with broken rib

In addition to Freeman’s ankle injury, he also played through a broken rib during the playoffs, which was not revealed until after the World Series.

He suffered the injury the day before the Dodgers began their NLDS matchup with the Padres. Freeman ended up playing the first three games of the series before taking Game 4 off and returning for Game 5.

He also missed two NLCS games, but at the time, it was primarily presumed to be because of his sprained ankle, which he now attributes to both the ankle and rib injury.