Alex Freeland heard the noise this spring, and how he blocked it out to become a starter

For Alex Freeland, the noise could’ve been deafening.

About how he wasn’t hitting during spring training. About how he seemingly trailed Hyeseong Kim in a camp battle at second base. About how he didn’t deserve the opening day roster spot he got with the Dodgers, after surprisingly winning the competition on the eve of the regular season.

Instead, the rookie infielder let it all fade into quiet oblivion.

“I try not to get caught up in that,” he said. “You get caught up, and it takes your focus away from what you’re trying to do every day on the field.”

Forgive the cliche, but it’s the exact kind of thing that impressed Dodgers brass about Freeland this spring.

After floundering in his big-league debut last year, when he hit .190 and had his mental and emotional composure tested, the 24-year-old infielder decided to “take a step back and look at myself in the mirror” this offseason. 

“I wasn’t a great baseball player last year,” he told the California Post this week. “So I really took a step back, looked at myself and decided who I wanted to be and how I was gonna do it.”

The answer: An offseason of growth and maturation, epitomized by Freeland’s decision to spend the entire winter training with Dodgers staff at the team’s Camelback Ranch facility in Arizona.

The result: A new and, the team hopes, improved version of Freeland entering 2026.

“I don’t think anything got easier,” Freeland said. “I think just mentally, I feel more prepared.”

Indeed, Freeland seemed to have found a newfound ease in his auspicious season debut last Friday. In his first at-bat, he hit a home run, combining improved plate discipline and refined swing mechanics to open his campaign with an immediate bang. Later in the game, he lined a double that helped set up a game-winning rally. On defense, he also recorded two assists throwing out runners on relay plays from second. In the postgame clubhouse, reliever Evan Phillips joked it was a performance worthy of one full WAR.

“I was just super confident, itching to get in the box,” Freeland said a few days later. “I just felt good. I can’t remember a lot of times last year where I felt like that.”

In some ways, 2025 still was a breakthrough campaign for the former third-round draft pick. He impressed in his first extended stint in triple-A, hitting 16 home runs and 82 RBIs to go along with his dependable and versatile infield defense. He earned his career first call-up to the majors in late July, collecting a hit in his MLB debut and going 6-for-17 in his opening week.

A month later, however, the narrative had changed.

Freeland hit just .149 over his subsequent 24 games. He was striking out in more than 40% of his at-bats. And in early September, it all came to a head with a demotion back to the minors.

“I think at times, the game sped up on him,” manager Dave Roberts said.

When Freeland was sent down, people around the team were struck by how hard he seemed to take it.

In hindsight, however, Freeland said it gave him a new perspective. Not only did he understand the decision (“Be honest,” he quipped, “would you want somebody hitting .190 in the lineup?”) but he used it as a way to reframe his mindset.

“I took it like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna go back down to triple-A and work my butt off and get right back,’” he said. “Because I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Thus, Freeland spent all winter in Arizona, refining his swing mechanics and getting stronger physically.

Entering spring training, he gave himself two goals: “To break with the team, but also just mature and grow up and understand myself.”

Camp tested the latter. 

Though he rediscovered better plate discipline, drawing more walks than strikeouts with quality at-bats that impressed team officials, Freeland hit just .125 in Cactus League play. He was publicly compared to Kim daily for the team’s left-handed platoon job at second base. And when he ultimately won the competition –– with the club opting to start Kim in triple-A to work on his own swing overhaul –– there was angry online backlash from some corners of the fanbase.

“I mean, it was tough not to (hear that),” Freeland said. “But that wasn’t what my spring was for. Like, it wasn’t me versus Kim for this last roster spot. I was just trying to make the team. And I think Kim’s the man. You ask anybody in this clubhouse, everybody loves Kim.”

Now, though, they’re gaining more confidence in Freeland’s maturation, too, betting on the growth he showed in navigating what could have been a noisy spring.

“I talked all spring about his head and just kind of (how he was) staying confident,” Roberts said. “And I think he’s really confident. He’s in a good spot.”