Dodgers' Freeman removed from Game 2 with ankle discomfort

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was removed from Game 2 of the NLDS due to right ankle discomfort, the team announced. He was playing through a severe ankle sprain.

Kiké Hernández entered the game in Freeman's spot in the batting order. Hernández took over at third base to start the top of the sixth, while Max Muncy shifted across the diamond to first.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not have an update on Freeman's status following the game, according to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

"I got word in the middle of the game that his ankle was really bothering him," Roberts said. "He was down, really down, and just couldn't keep going. We had no other choice."

Roberts added that Freeman is "doing everything he can" to be ready for Game 3. However, the team won't know more until Monday's workout.

Freeman injured his ankle while trying to avoid a tag during the Dodgers' regular-season home finale against the San Diego Padres, their opponent in this series. Despite revealing before the series that the sprain would normally require a four-to-six week IL stint, he went 2-for-5 in Game 1 of the NLDS and even stole a base.

Freeman went 0-for-2 with a strikeout on Sunday before being lifted.

Muncy was L.A.'s primary first baseman prior to the team's signing of Freeman in 2022. However, he's played just five innings there since he suffered a forearm injury late in the 2021 season.