Already missing one MVP in their lineup, the Los Angeles Dodgers don’t have a second one either as they open the MLB season in Japan.
First baseman Freddie Freeman was scratched just before first pitch against the Chicago Cubs due to what the team said was left rib discomfort.
Freeman, the 2020 NL Most Valuable Player, was hobbling the last time the Dodgers played – as he was slowed by an ankle injury during last year’s World Series, though he still won MVP honors.
Freeman underwent surgery on the ankle after the World Series and was still limited early in the exhibition season. However, he was able to play in four consecutive Cactus League games before the Dodgers left for Japan.
The team is also missing 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts, who will not play in either Japan Series game against the Cubs because of illness.
In the Dodgers’ revamped lineup on Tuesday, Kike Hernandez moved from left field to replace Freeman at first base in the Dodgers lineup against Cubs starter Shōta Imanaga. Michael Conforto, who wasn’t in the original lineup, took Hernandez’s place in left.
