And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger.
Talking Well, we are always honored and humbled whenever Freddie Freeman has time to join us. He's one of the best players in Major League Baseball and certainly a great father, a great husband, and certainly one of the guys that you could say is the epitome of professionalism in Major League Baseball.
Freddie, thanks a lot for the time.
I appreciate those kinds of words. Thank you, David.
Are you feeling at the end of a long road trip, the longest of the season.
Yeah, Like I said right before we came on air, this is a long one. I think it's more for the fact of we've had all like night game getaway days. We've had a lot of couple of raindelays in Atlanta, just a lot of get in lates with no days off, and you know, we had a flight to Atlanta which is four hours five hour flight here. So there's just a lot of extra things that went into this road trip,
and especially the Rangelers. I think the Raine lays when you start your body, you stop your body, you start your body, there's an extra layer of of tiredness that comes into play there. But you know, I think we got the first one under our belt. We obviously didn't get the first win here in Arizona, but I think we're all feeling a little bit better after the flight and hopefully things are a better result tonight.
Is that something we don't fully appreciate.
It's one thing to be the Dodgers, but everybody wants you guys playing prime time.
There's not many day games.
No. I think that's the we are you gonna get this on?
This is gonna be hey, it's it's the atmosphere of the stadium tonight.
Yeah, yeah, I think the the one o'clock getaway days there, they're not gonna be there that much for us, And we understand it's the gate. You want to get more people if you like, just like the Marlins. If we start at four forty, there's a chance of getting those people that get off work at four or five that might see the game time starting. Oh, maybe we'll come to the game get some more people, which is great. We want more fans at the games coming out to
watch us play. But there is a little the thing that goes against us and that that we get in late. And you know, as much as you know, we pride ourselves and being ready. They're like a couple of late flights can take a toll on you. We feel good right now, so hopefully we can, you know, get back on the winning way tonight.
Freddie Freeman is our guest. Freddie swinging the bat really well right now. Everybody focuses on what you're doing swing wise, approach wise, But is what you're doing right now a testament to the work that you put in after your ankle surgery.
Yeah, I mean I feel like I'm doing the same thing. It's the same approach, my same routine, and I, like I've been saying the last couple year, I feel like I've been fighting a cut swing for the last couple of years, and it's not cutting right now, it's it's what have been what I have been looking for for a long time, and everything's going up through the middle. Just like in Miami, I had a couple of low pictures. I was able to say through them and hit him
into the gaps. And if I had my cut swing that I've been trying to fight against and not have, I would have rolled those over. I fouled those off ors swing and miss, so sometimes you're just feeling good. There's no there's no rhyme or reason to it. It's the same thing I'm doing every single day, getting ready for each and every game. But right now the swing is going through the middle.
But it's remarkable, Freddie. Most guys I went through what you did last postseason, not only with the ankle but the ribs.
To play through it.
And play at that level and then have ankle surgery during the off season and not skip a beat.
That doesn't happen. But that's a testament to your work ethic.
Oh, I appreciate that, I really do. I do appreciate those words. In my mind, I'm just doing this what I expect myself to do. I did put in a lot of work trying to get back as fast as I could. It's still work in progress. Like I just was on the table for about an hour and a half to get to come out here and do my drills and get ready for this game. So it's still going, you know. But I'm in a good spot physically with
my ankle, my ribs. We've worked on that still too, just because of what happened in Japan and we weren't really thinking about my ribs and then all of a sudden flared up again real quick. So we've been working on that, keeping that hopefully in check. So in my mind, I'm just trying to do my job and do what
is it expected of me. So I understand there's been a lot of things that happened in the offseason with surgeries and stuff like that, but I'm in a good spot physically where i can go out there and be myself.
I got a big picture question for Freddy Freeman, because your career has endured generations now at this point in a good way. What's the biggest difference hitting in twenty eleven, your first year in the big leagues, compared to hitting in twenty twenty five. The type of pitching you're seeing, just the way the game is approached.
Yeah, I would say obviously, velocity is a lot higher than it was in twenty eleven. I also think, like we saw with the Miami starter Blowzo, two times through the order he goes out, So you're facing most often, you're facing at least three different pitchers in a night. There's different arm angles, just like the diningbacks, they have guys coming at all different angles. You got Thompson who
throws her side arm. You got left these, you know, facing another guy that we hadn't faced Mario laest night thrown a hundred, So a lot of different things that are a lot different from fifteen years ago. But I would have to say more velocity and facing more pictures each night than we did fifteen years ago.
What about pictures making hitters move their feet? It doesn't seem like that happens anymore.
Not real, not really. I mean, you are you do want to pitch in If that's the case, you don't want to be pitching on one side of the plate and we look out over there and it's easiest to just cover that and just shoot it the other way. So it's not about hitting someone and moving their feet. It's more about maybe throwing a sinker like as left him, throw a sinker in and then you can go back away.
It's not about trying to hurt someone, hit someone, but it's more of just trying to move your eyes throughout the course. You don't want a hitter to have their eyes on one specific plate and you just throw it in that area all over and over again. So it's more about moving eyes around and it's not about hitting people are moving feet. But you know it's a little different now.
Dy Freeman is our guest. All right, Freddie, I think we always have short memories anything. Things just fix themselves automatically. Nobody really has asked you how your son Maximus is doing.
Is it still a work in progress? How is he doing?
Yeah? So I think we I think Chelsea gave an update about closely about a month ago, we were told about the neurologist. He's about eighty percent. If you were to see him on a couch, if you walked into the room and someone the couch, you'd have no idea there's anything going that. He even had yambre. So he looks great. He's I'm still as stubborn as I am, so but he does we are. He still does pt multiple times a week. His ankle flexion dorsy flection at the top of his ankle on his left side is
not all the way back. There's little reminders still that he's still healing. Just in spring training he had like a little cacti spike in his left foot and he had no idea it was in there because his nerves are still regrowing and getting and healing, so there's little reminders, but he's obviously well on his way. The neurologists. I don't know if he's he's going to be an Olympic track runner. I said he was. Last name was Freeman.
He had never had that in his cards anyways. But he's gonna be okay longer than we thought, because we were hoping to he'd be, you know, close to one hundred now, but it's looking maybe hopefully by you know, July August, that he'll be completely back normal.
Love it, Freddy, And with Mother's Day on Sunday, you're always in our thoughts, and I know Chelsea's done a great job being a mom to your kids. And I know your mom's with you every day.
Yeah, you know, when I when I was younger, Mother's Day was a little tough after my mom passed away. But now I know that she's she's looking down with the perfect seat to everything that's going on. And Chelsea's an incredible mother. So Mother's Day is a little bit happier these days now, but I'll be always in remembrance of my mom, and you know, Chelsea's an incredible mother. So I can't wait to get home on Sunday and see here.
Well, Freddie Freeman's an incredible person. I never forget the dads. Everybody loves the kids and the moms, and rightfully so. But I give a lot of kudos to Freddie Freeman.
Yeah, but we're not dad with our at our wives either, so it's all his mother's day.
No doubt.
Should listen to Freddie Freeman more, I wouldn't be in the doghouse as much as I am.
Thanks Freddy, I appreciate Thanks. David