Freeman ready for 'smoother ride' in 2025 after rollercoaster '24

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Dodgers' first official full-squad workout was just the start of a busy Saturday for Freddie Freeman. After his day at Camelback Ranch was over, Freeman was headed to a birthday party for his youngest son, Max.

Freeman spent some time away from the team last season when Max, who just turned 4 years old, was diagnosed with a rare neurological illness called Guillain-Barr¨¦ syndrome. Max is doing well now, and so is Freeman, who's ready to get to work for the upcoming season.

"I feel good, body feels good, ankle¡¯s trending right where I want it to be," Freeman said. "Obviously dealt with a lot last year, so hopefully it¡¯s a smoother ride for the Freeman family this year."

After having offseason surgery on the right ankle that hampered him throughout the Dodgers' World Series run, Freeman said he is "perfectly on track" to play in the season-opening Tokyo Series from March 18-19.

Freeman is "almost a full player" again, to his relief. He's running at about 80% of his body weight on an anti-gravity treadmill (with the hope of starting a running progression midway through next week), participating in infield practice and taking batting practice. He even stood in for a live at-bat against Tony Gonsolin on Saturday.

"I wasn¡¯t supposed to swing today, but I swung," Freeman said. "I couldn¡¯t help myself."

While Freeman is expected to miss some early Cactus League action, both he and the Dodgers are optimistic that he'll be able to play in spring games around the end of the month. If anything, the team may have to hold Freeman back from testing his ankle too rigorously.

"We¡¯ll manage it in Spring Training," manager Dave Roberts said. "But we saw that leg-out triple against the Padres in the Division Series, so once he¡¯s playing, he sort of does his thing."

It took some time for Freeman to fully process the magnitude of everything that happened last season. It was sometime in December, he said, that he and his oldest son, Charlie, began watching YouTube videos of his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees, from fan reactions to comparisons with Kirk Gibson's legendary 1988 walk-off blast.

(Charlie had to ask who Gibson was. "Sorry, Kirk," Freeman said.)

Freeman had a lot on his plate and more important things to worry about than his walk-off slam at the time. But once he was able to take a step back and absorb what it meant to author such an iconic moment in franchise history, he was able to really appreciate what it meant for Dodgers fans everywhere.

"Obviously, what we went through as a family, to have that situation come up ¡­ I¡¯d rather strike out in that situation than see Max go through it. And to have the complete opposite happen, it took a while," Freeman said. "But every day I go out, someone¡¯s always coming up. ¡­ It¡¯s special. I¡¯m just glad to be part of so many wonderful memories for so many people."