Freddie Freeman (ankle) absent from Game 4 lineup for Dodgers at first base
Atlanta Braves' first baseman Freddie Freeman will not be included in the starting lineup for Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday, away against the New York Mets.
Freeman, who has been playing with a sprained right ankle since the postseason began, will be replaced at first base by Max Muncy. Enrique Hernandez will take over for Muncy at third base, while rookie Andy Pages plays in center field after Hernandez started there in Games 1 and 3.
The Dodgers are stacking up on right-handed hitters in Game 4 against Mets left-hander Jose Quintana. Freeman has a lifetime record of 5-for-16 (.313) against Quintana with a double and a home run.
Muncy and Shohei Ohtani are the only left-handed batters in the Los Angeles lineup against Quintana. Both hit home runs in Game 3, while Muncy has reached base in each of his last eight plate appearances.
Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux will also be absent from the starting lineup on Thursday, as the left-handed hitter is replaced by the right-handed hitting Chris Taylor. Lux did not start in Game 2 of the NLCS due to tightness in his hip flexor tendon.
Freeman injured his right ankle while running through first base in a game against the San Diego Padres on September 26, which was also the night the Dodgers secured the NL West title. He sat out the final three regular-season games.
In the playoffs, a visibly hindered Freeman was only able to play six innings in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres and did not participate in Game 4 of the NLDS. He started at first base in each of the first three NLCS games but left in the late innings of Games 1 and 3, after Los Angeles had taken significant leads.
