Dodgers slated to call up infield prospect Alex Freeland: Source

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to call up infielder Alex Freeland, a league source told The Athletic, shoring up their position player group and bringing the club’s most promising middle infield prospect to the majors.

Freeland’s arrival comes during a delicate time for the club’s infield depth, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Freeland will taxi as they evaluate the state of Hyeseong Kim’s left shoulder and Tommy Edman’s reinjured right ankle.

Kim has been playing through discomfort in his left shoulder for close to a week but remained in the lineup for Monday’s 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He did not look comfortable, grimacing as he swung and only following through with his right arm. He settled for dropping down a bunt in his third plate appearance against Reds rookie Chase Burns after striking out in his first two at-bats.

His potential replacement didn’t feel much better Monday. Edman was scratched from the initial lineup after tweaking his right ankle while running the bases at Fenway Park on Sunday. Edman missed time in May because of the same ankle and was not available when Roberts wanted to pinch hit him for Kim with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Kim popped out.

“Obviously, if I couldn’t hit him tonight, for him not to be able to play three innings of defense isn’t a great feeling,” Roberts said.

The manager has grown used to checking in with the infirmary, as the number of Dodgers on the injured list would increase to 12 if one of the two has to be sidelined Tuesday. Kim was seen using an electronic stimulation machine on the shoulder after Monday’s game. “He’s fighting it,” Roberts said. They will check on Edman as well, whom Roberts called “day to day.”

“I don’t feel like this is that big a deal,” said Edman, who also tweaked the ankle in early June but didn’t have to go on the IL at the time. “I was just at a point where I didn’t feel like I could run full speed today.”

That opens the door for Freeland. The 23-year-old, who was the Dodgers’ third-round selection in 2022, has been one of the club’s most intriguing prospects for quite some time. He put together a promising start to his first full season at Triple A, hitting .253/.377/.421 in 453 plate appearances while mostly playing shortstop and third base. Freeland was the No. 68-ranked prospect on the preseason edition of Keith Law’s top 100 list for The Athletic.

The Dodgers have been seeking different ways to upgrade their position player group going into Thursday’s trade deadline, but they have been reluctant to include Freeland or catcher Dalton Rushing in potential deals, The Athletic reported last week. Roberts said as much publicly about Rushing on Monday, saying, “I just don’t see a world in which he’s moved.”

Instead of moving Freeland, the Dodgers are calling up the switch hitter as an internal solution.

The club has needed another versatile option of late due to injuries, even before Kim and Edman got banged up. Max Muncy’s bone bruise in his left knee has essentially forced Edman and Miguel Rojas — two of Los Angeles’ switchable infield types — to share third-base duties. Muncy is expected back sooner than originally anticipated and will start a rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Oklahoma. There’s even an outside shot he’s active by this weekend in Tampa.

The team has also been without Kiké Hernández, who injured his left elbow in late May and was placed on the IL in July. There’s no clear timetable for his return. Hernández has still been dealing with discomfort, Roberts said, so much so that he has undergone a pair of nonsurgical “procedures” to help alleviate pain in the area.

Bringing Freeland to the majors can help at least serve as a stopgap. If Kim and Edman are going to be potential health concerns, it could just add one more thing to the team’s shopping list before Thursday’s deadline.

(Photo: Mike Janes / Four Seam Images via AP)

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