Freddie Freeman Set To Start Rehab With Gwinnett Braves

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta Braves star slugger whose wrist was broken by a pitch six weeks ago, is set to get back to action soon in Gwinnett County.

Freeman said he hopes to begin a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves as early as Saturday.

"Right now the tentative is full day tomorrow, (batting practice) and everything," Freeman said Tuesday. He is on the road with the Braves in San Diego.

"If everything goes well, do that again Thursday, then the team is going to fly to Oakland and I'm not going to go to Oakland. I'm going to fly back and hopefully meet the Triple-A team in Charlotte on Saturday."

That means Gwinnett fans could get to see Freddie in person on July 4th. That's when the G-Braves return to Coolray Field to host Norfolk in a 7:05 p.m. holiday game.

Freeman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that, if all goes well, he'd like to rejoin the Major League team in Washington for a four-game series against the Nationals that starts on July 9.

Freeman suffered a non-displaced left wrist fracture after being hit by a pitch in the fifth inning of a May 17 game with the Toronto Blue Jays. The wrist was in a cast for about four weeks and Freeman was expected to miss about 10 weeks of action.

If he returns to the Majors on July 9, that would be seven weeks and one day since his injury.

Freeman's injury came during a contentious game during which the benches cleared twice in an 8-4 win for the Braves.

At the time of his injury, Freeman, 27, led the National League with 14 home runs and ranked among league leaders in virtually every other offensive category. He was third in runs scored (35), sixth in batting average (.341), second in extra-base hits (26), second in on-base percentage (.461) and second in slugging percentage (.748).

The playing field will look a little different for Freeman when he returns. He plans on playing third base — instead of his traditional first base — in an effort to keep hot-hitting Matt Adams in the lineup.

Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals to fill in during Freeman's absence, Adams is batting .296 this season, with 13 home runs and 38 RBI.

Freeman has not played third base regularly since high school, but has been taking fielding practice from the position over the past week or so during the Braves' road trip.

Photo courtesy Atlanta Braves