Former Braves players Freddie Freeman and Max Fried are making their return to Atlanta as All-Stars
Freeman, now in his fourth season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, played his first 12 seasons in Atlanta. He makes no effort to hide his emotions when he returns and says he won't be surprised if another warm reception from Atlanta fans creates another emotional response.
'Now that I'm here, I think it's going to be special,' Freeman said before Monday night's Home Run Derby. "For the last four years, every time I come back, the fans, they've given me such great big, standing ovations, so I don't expect anything.
'I'm just happy to be back and play in front of these fans again. So if they give me one, believe me, I'll take it all in. I think you guys know, whatever I feel on the field, I let it come out. So we'll see what happens tomorrow.'
Freeman won't be the only former Atlanta star making his return. Max Fried, who leads the American League and is tied for the MLB lead with 11 wins in his first season with the New York Yankees, returns following eight seasons with the Braves. Both players still have homes in Atlanta and get to sleep in their own beds this week.
Fried won't be able to participate in the game due to a blister on his left index finger.
Fried left Atlanta to sign an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees in December.
Freeman said he was 'so happy' Fried landed the big contract.
'I think we all know Max and how wonderful a person he is,' Freeman said. 'And to see him get that contract rightfully, he deserves. He's, you know, a big-game pitcher pitching on the biggest stage. ... And it's really hard in your first year of a new contract, new team. ... And for him to go out there and have (success), it's awesome. Especially in pinstripes in the Bronx, when there's a lot of pressure on you.'
Fried was replaced on the All-Star roster by Yankees teammate Carlos Rodón but is still attending the festivities in Atlanta. The Yankees may start Fried in a three-game series at AL East-leading Toronto on July 21-23 after opening the second half by visiting the Braves.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was clear how much it meant to Freeman to return to Atlanta as an All-Star.
'It's something that I know once they announced that it was going to be held here, it was marked on his calendar,' Roberts said. 'And then that was kind of his goal, was to get back here and get in front of the Braves' faithful that cheered him on for, what, 11, 12 years. So he's sleeping in his own bed for a couple nights.'
"It's special,' he said. 'I think every time I come back, I try to portray what Atlanta means to me. Oh, it's special every time I come back and the receptions they've given me the last four years. So I spent a lot of wonderful years here. ... I'm excited to be back.'
___
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
20 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Freddie Freeman's walk-off hit saves the day, lifts Dodgers to win over Twins
Remember when the Dodgers injury-riddled rotation was the problem? That's so last month. The issue now is the bullpen. Over the last four weeks the team's bullpen ERA has ballooned to 4.44. Only six teams in the majors entered Wednesday with a higher mark. Freddie Freeman saved the Dodgers from another painful bullpen implosion Wednesday, lining a two-out, two-run single to left field in the ninth inning, giving the team a 4-3 walk-off win over the Minnesota Twins in a getaway day matinee at Dodger Stadium. An inning earlier Kirby Yates had given up two runs and an eighth-inning lead without recording an out. That wasted a season-best effort from right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who held the Twins a run on three hits, striking out 12 batters, over seven innings. In each of his three starts since coming of the injured list, Glasnow has gone at least five innings and allowed fewer than two runs. His ERA in that span is 1.00. Glasnow left with a 2-1 lead but that was gone four batters later, with Yates walking the bases loaded, missing the plate on 12 of his 18 pitches. Alex Vesia came on to get Willi Castro to hit into a double play, but that allowed the tying run to score. Pinch-hitter Harrison Bader then untied it with a poorly-hit ball that got over the leaping Vesia before landing on the infield grass as Brooks Lee raced home from third. The Dodgers were down to their last out in the ninth when Mookie Betts beat out an infield single. Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked and Esteury Ruiz followed with a walk of his own, bringing up Freeman, who two called strikes before slicing a line drive just in front of diving Bader in left to give the Dodgers their second win in six games since the All-Star Break. Freeman's heroics does nothing to heal the Dodgers were they are hurting most though, and that's pitching. After losing three of his projected five starters in the season's first two months, manager Dave Roberts has had to use everything short of masking tape and bailing wire to keep a rotation together. As a result, the Dodgers have used 16 starters this season and 37 pitchers overall. And that makeshift rotation may be to blame for the bullpen troubles. Dodger starters have thrown a big-league low 467 3/2 innings this season, averaging less than five innings a start, while their exhausted relievers have pitched a major-league leading 452 2/3 innings. The rotation is getting healthier now that Glasnow, who has missed most of the season with an inflamed shoulder, could soon be rejoined in the rotation by two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, The left-hander, out since April 2 with shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to make his final minor-league rehab start Saturday. Ohtani gave Glasnow an early lead Wednesday with a solo home run in the first inning. It was his fifth straight game with a home run, a career high that equaled the franchise record and it gave 37 for the season. The run was his 96th of the year, best in the majors. Royce Lewis got that run back for the Twins in the third, leading off with his fifth home run of the season just inside the left-field foul pole. It stayed way until the seventh, when Tommy Edman looped a single over a drawn-in infield, putting to the Dodgers back in front. Roberts isn't ready to blame the bullpen's recent struggles entirely on the heavy workload. But he's not excusing it either. 'That's how the season goes,' he said. 'It's easy to look at that in totality. I do know that we're what we're dealing with we have to kind of weather it.' In the last two days, the Dodgers have seen left-hander reliever Tanner Scott go on the injured list with elbow inflammation and watched right-hander Ben Casparius limp off the mound with a right calf cramp, joining 11 pitchers already on the sidelines. Casparius underwent an MRI exam, which was negative, and he is expected to be available during the team's nine-game road trip, which begins Friday in Boston. But Casparius admitted Wednesday that the bullpen's recent struggles led him to try to pitch through the soreness, likely making the injury worse. 'Going through the back of my mind [was] kind of gutting it out,' he said. 'I think you can look at it a bunch of different ways, but I'm not necessarily sure I put the team the best spot.' Casparius said the pitchers in Dodger bullpen, who haven't had a scoreless game since July 3, have struggled collectively and will have to work collectively to get back on track. 'Momentum is everything,' he said. 'We're kind of going through our tough patch right now and hopefully it's the worst it's going to be. We've got some guys coming back. Maybe getting on the road and being uncomfortable might help us out a little bit in a weird way too. 'It's a tough part of the year. Everybody around the league is going through this type of stuff. I think we're going to turn a corner.' Notes: Reliever Blake Treinen was scheduled to make back-to-back appearances for Triple A Oklahoma City on Wednesday and Thursday and if things go well, he could rejoin the Dodgers on the road trip. Treinen went on the injured list April 19 with forearm tightness. ... Third baseman Max Muncy is scheduled to face live pitching at the Dodgers' Arizona complex on Thursday and could begin a minor-league rehab assignment next week, far sooner than expected. Muncy was the Dodgers' hottest hitter when he sustained a bone bruise in his left knee three weeks ago. It was anticipated he would miss a month and half.
Fox Sports
20 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
A zero for the Rockies snaps record 220-game streak since last shutout win
Associated Press DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies ended a dubious streak by recording a zero. Rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon pitched six innings and the Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 on Wednesday for their first shutout since May 15, 2024, ending a record streak of 220 games since they last kept an opponent from scoring. 'I did not know that. ... That's a long time without a shutout,' Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. 'But I'm glad we shut them out today. That was good behind Gordon. Gordon did a fantastic job.' Colorado is the only major league team since at least 1901 to go more than 200 games without a shutout victory, according to Stathead and Baseball Reference. The last shutout for the Rockies had been 8-0 at San Diego in their only one last season. Their previous one at home was 2-0 over the Athletics on July 30, 2023. Gordon (2-2) scattered four hits while striking out three and walking three to become the first Rockies rookie since Kyle Freeman in 2017 to pitch at least six scoreless innings in a game at Coors Field. Freeman did it twice that season, with one-hit ball over 8 1/3 innings of a 10-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on July 9, after going seven innings in an 8-0 victory over San Francisco on April 23. The Rockies (26-76) have won consecutive series for the first time this season, taking two of three games from the Cardinals after coming out of the All-Star break by winning two of three against Minnesota last weekend. 'Extremely important,' Colorado catcher Austin Nola said. 'One game at a time. And I think that's the biggest thing, is sticking to the plan, being in the present. And then at the end of the day we're going to come out on top.' Last month, Colorado ended an MLB-record streak of 22 consecutive series losses, dating to last year, with a 3-2 victory at Miami. ___ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 3
NBC Sports
21 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Big Ten notebook: Hoosiers ready to prove they're no one-hit wonder
LAS VEGAS — After a surprising 10-0 start, a program-record 11 wins and a trip to the College Football Playoff, some believe Indiana is destined to take a step backward in 2025. Coach Curt Cignetti and his team, however, didn't get the memo. 'We're not looking to sustain it, we're looking to improve it,' Cignetti said Tuesday at Big Ten football media days. 'And the way you do that is by having the right people on the bus, upstairs in the coaches' offices, downstairs in the locker room.' And with that, he said, is a standard he set long ago at James Madison, one that includes a crystal clear blueprint with expectations of never accepting anything less than what's been previously accomplished. 'Consistency day in, day out,' Cignetti added. 'Consistency is huge so that we can play fast, physical, relentless, smart, disciplined, poised, not affected by success, not affected by failure, and never ever satisfied until the game is over.' Nonetheless, the Hoosiers' road back to the playoffs is no easy chore, as their conference slate includes trips to Oregon and Penn State — two College Football Playoff teams they didn't face last year. The Big Ten media poll projected a sixth-place finish for the Hoosiers, indicating they may have been a one-hit wonder. 'I know that's the buzzword — fluke — but I think at the end of the day, we've always overcome whatever expectations people have of us,' said returning all-Big Ten defensive end Mikail Kamara, who followed Cignetti from James Madison. 'So, I feel the way that Cig runs the ship and has a standard, I feel like everyone's kind of bought into it. 'The only goal that we have is to win a championship. I think last year was fun; we wanted to win games, and it was completely all new to us. But now, it's like, we've cemented ourselves in the Big Ten and we're going to go take it over and win.' Why Vegas? Normally, the Big Ten holds its media days inside Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium, and the three-day event certainly could have carried momentum over from the WNBA's All-Star weekend. But the venue was booked for the week. So, rather than return to another old home, Chicago, the 18-team conference chose Las Vegas, a city where it does not have an actual team but that is closer to some of its newer programs — USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. 'I think, obviously, we are a conference that goes coast to coast, so having some presence closer to our West Coast members is not a bad thing,' commissioner Tony Petitti said. 'It started with logistics, to be really candid.' Look good, feel good, play good Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola made the rounds, donning a customized suit that reeked of success while embracing a Las Vegas vibe. Wearing a crisp black suit with red piping and playing cards stitched on the inside to match his red-bottom Christian Louboutin shoes, the second-year signal caller said the Cornhuskers, picked to finish eighth by media members, are loaded with confidence heading into camp. Nebraska started 5-1 last year, before finishing 2-5. One fun fact: Huskers coach Matt Rhule's teams at Baylor and Temple each improved by four wins from his second to third seasons. 'It all stems from the work that's been put in, all the preparation that guys have had,' Raiola said. 'It's going to be an exciting season, guys are ready to go, and there's no stopping us getting to our goals. The consistency of believing in the program, believing in what we believe, and not losing sight of that. 'I think once guys understand that when something works, that you just keep sticking to it and you don't fade from it, you get a strong (result) at the end of the day.' Champaign buzz Illinois was supposed to be a sleeper, perhaps this year's version of Indiana. But with so much hype coming out of Champaign, and the preseason poll landing Illinois in fourth place, the Illini won't be sneaking up on anyone. 'I think (Illinois coach) Bret's (Bielema) built something the way that he wanted to build it,' Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. 'And he's got guys that fit his program, his culture, and now they have an experienced team, which when you're an experienced team, you're always dangerous.' Defensive back Xavier Scott pointed out the Illini's schedule, having to open the season with seven straight games before a bye, but he and his teammates are looking forward to the challenge. 'We're just excited to see what we got, we're just going to continue to do what we do and continue to grind to success,' Scott said. 'We want to make this an every-year type of thing where we're winning games, multiple games, and we're making more bowl games ... and even playoff runs. We're just trying to make that the culture of Illinois.'
