The Los Angeles Dodgers moved first baseman Freddie Freeman to fourth in the lineup on both Saturday and Monday, taking him out of the top three while switching Teoscar Hernández in at third. The lineup change was no slight to Freeman, but a strategy choice as the Dodgers went up against two left-handed pitchers.
Both Shohei Ohtani and Freeman bat left, so teams have tried using their left-handed relievers against the duo. To counteract the strategy, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts moved Freeman into the fourth slot.
“It’s no secret that any team that’s going to try to beat us is going to stockpile some lefties to minimize Shohei and Freddie,” Roberts said, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. “That’s just a way that I can counter a little bit.”
The Braves got the best of the Dodgers when they first made the switch on Saturday. The Braves and left-handed pitcher Chris Sale dominated. Sale pitched six innings and gave up just one earned run while striking out six as the Braves took a 10-1 win.
The Dodgers saw better success Monday, when they earned a 9-0 shutout win over the Braves to officially take the final two games of the series. Freeman capitalized on his position, hitting a three-run home run, his 22nd of the season. To make it even sweeter, Freeman hit the home run in the stadium of his former team.
Freeman’s reaction to moving down in the batting order? Surprisingly content.
“I kinda like it,” Freeman said, via Ardaya. “It puts them in a tough matchup because if they bring in a lefty for Shohei, that means Mookie and Teo have to face left-handed pitching. It’s tougher matchups we’re trying to create throughout the course of a game to make it harder on managers.”
Outside of Freeman, Ohtani and Hernández succeeded with the lineup changes as they combined for three more RBIs while the Dodgers earned a lopsided victory. Ultimately, the Dodgers can pick their poison when it comes to their lineup. It certainly helps that they have three greats in Freeman, Ohtani and Mookie Betts, as well as an All-Star in Hernández, making it hard for their top four to lose no matter the order.
