Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman is expected to make his 2026 game debut on Tuesday, when the Dodgers host the Cleveland Guardians.
In speaking with reporters on Thursday at Camelback Ranch, Freeman talked about his plans for 2026 and beyond, which included wanting to play 162 games again this season, something he did previously in 2014 and 2018. But part of that plan included the 36-year-old dialing things back a bit this spring, including not playing for Canada in the World Baseball Classic and the Dodgers being more methodical with his Cactus League reps.
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“I’m feeling good, but we are going to slow-play it a little bit,” Freeman said Thursday, as shown on SportsNet LA. “It’s kind of planned out that I’ll be around 47 plate appearances, which I kind of like.”
That last part is hilariously specific — later in the media scrum Thursday widened the range a bit to 45-50 plate appearances — but also quite fitting for Freeman, who is acutely aware of his own numbers. And who could blame him? After all, Freeman is the active major league leader in hits (2,431), doubles (547, 34th all-time), total bases (4,145), runs scored (1,379) and runs batted in (1,322).
Excluding the extremely-truncated spring training in 2022 after the MLB lockout in his first year with the Dodgers, Freeman in the last three spring trainings got 43, 51, and 40 plate appearances, the latter two years also including exhibition games in Korea and Japan in which Freeman played. In 2025, his start to Cactus League play was delayed after rehabbing from right ankle surgery the previous December.
But all of those are right in line with what Freeman feels comfortable with to get ready for the games that count, with this his 17th major league season.
Today’s question is how many plate appearances will Freddie Freeman get this spring training?
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