After the Los Angeles Dodgers lost Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to the New York Mets, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the following about his first baseman Freddie Freeman: “His swing is not right,” as reported by Jeff Passan for ESPN. Roberts was presumably referring to Freeman’s swing of the baseball bat and not some other kind of swing. And Freeman’s swing not being right is probably due to his right ankle not being right. Freeman suffered a severe ankle sprain back on September 26, and it can take up to 6 to 12 weeks to recover from such an injury.
So, Roberts is now thinking that it might not be right for Freeman to play in Game 6 of the NLCS with the Dodgers leading three games to two. The 35-year-old Freeman hasn’t really been in the swing of things throughout most of this series. He missed Game 4 of the NLCS. And it was sort of a “Citi” situation for Freeman and the Dodgers during Game 5 at the Mets’ Citi Field. Freeman failed to reach any bases during five at bats and struck out twice in the Dodgers’ 12-6 loss on Friday. That makes him one for his last 15 at bats, which is not really right for someone who’s been an eight-time All-Star and NL MVP.
An ankle sprain is when you stretch or tear one of the ligaments that stabilize your ankle. A ligament is a band of fibrous tissue that connects one bone in a joint to another to keep that joint from a rocking. Most of the time an ankle sprain occurs because you have inverted your ankle—meaning turning it inwards—to far or suddenly. This can put too much pressure on the anterior talofibular (ATFL) and calcaneofibular (CFL) ligaments that run along the outside of your ankle. Much less common are sprains of the deltoid ligament that runs along the inside of your ankle due to eversion injuries, when you foot turns too far or quickly outwards.
Freeman likely suffered a Grade 2 tear of the ligament last month. That would be a partial tear of one of the ligaments. That would be worse than the slight stretching and microscopic tearing that would qualify as a Grade 1 sprain but not as bad as the complete tear that would qualify as a Grade 3 sprain. A Grade 2 tear would result in some instability of the ankle as opposed to a Grade 3, which would result in substantial instability.
Freeman is also likely to be in Phase 3 of the three phases of treatment for low ankle sprains laid out by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons on its websitelays out:
- Phase 1: Keep the ankle immobilized and use plenty of rest and ice to bring down the swelling. You shouldn’t go completely non-weightbearing, though, because your leg muscles may atrophy and shrink as a result. It’s OK to apply as much weight to the ankle as can be tolerated. The initial swelling and pain of Phase 1 will typically last for 2 to 3 days.
- Phase 2: Begin active rehabilitation of the ankle, such as movements to increase the range of motion of your ankle, isometric exercises to strengthen the muscles around the ankle and balance training to get your proprioception back in shape. Don’t keep your ankle immobilized here. Otherwise, it may get stiff on you.
- Phase 3: Enhancing these rehabilitation efforts and gradually get back to full activities. Naturally, you want cut out ankle cutting activities at the beginning but then slowly incorporate them back into your routine.
When the sprain is minor, the whole process can take under two weeks. However, more severe sprains—like the one that Freeman suffered—typically will take six to 12 weeks. Low ankle sprains—even many Grade 3 ones— usually don’t require surgery. Surgery is only necessary when nonsurgical treatment hasn’t worked or there are additional accompanying injuries.
