LOS ANGELES -- Freddie Freeman hadn't been on the injured list in eight years and didn't want to go on it this year, even while battling an aggravation of the ankle injury that plagued him last October.
He came away grateful for having done so.
"I hate to say it," Freeman admitted, "but I might have needed the 10 days."
The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Freeman off a brief stint on the IL ahead of their series opener against the Chicago Cubs on Friday, the same day the team gave away a bobblehead commemorating his Kirk Gibson-style walk-off home run in the 2024 World Series.