Dodgers' Freddie Freeman responds to ‘load management’ decision

The Major League Baseball season is a long one and the Los Angeles Dodgers are making sure their veterans will be fresh for the playoffs.

The Dodgers won the World Series last season and are one of the favorites to win this season. With the focus on the playoffs, Los Angeles is monitoring the playing time of their veteran including Freddie Freeman who is a fan of the load management.

“They do such a good job of load management here,” Freeman said, “and I’m reluctantly to starting to get on board with it as I get older. I ingrained in myself that I get paid to do a job and I do my job. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around, ‘You’re not doing your job today.’”

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Although Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts doesn’t think load management is as prominent as the NBA due to more off days in the playoffs, he does want to get people off their feet if possible.

“They’re actually more antsy and rested than we would actually like,” Roberts said. “It’s a tricky one. To give Freddie Freeman off days to say that you’re managing his workload, I think it just makes some people feel better that they’ll be ready for the postseason. There’s no correlation. And it’s not an exact science.”

Freeman is 35 and will turn 36 later this season, so making sure he’s healthy and rested for the playoffs is key.

Freeman is in the fourth year of his six-year, $162 million deal with the Dodgers. The first baseman is hitting .319 with 5 home runs and 17 RBIs.

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