Freddie Freeman critiques Dodgers’ first-half run amid slump and All-Star break
Freddie Freeman just rated the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first half: and he’s not shy about the rough patches.
The Dodgers enter the All-Star break with baseball’s best record at 61-36, but Freeman admits the recent five-game losing streak stings. The sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks marked the team’s first this season, forcing a reset before a brutal East Coast road trip.
Freeman opened with the positives: 25 games over .500 and the majors’ top record. “I mean, when you end 25 games over .500, I think everyone’s going to be pretty thrilled about how we played,” he told reporters in Philadelphia.
But he pivoted fast. The Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks from July 11-13, their first sweep of 2026. That slide left them 5-7 in their last seven, a dip Freeman called “obviously…not the best.”
Freeman’s comments carry weight as the Dodgers chase a third straight World Series berth. He praised the roster’s resilience despite injuries to stars like Shohei Ohtani, who’s dealing with knee, arm and finger issues.
“Hopefully, Sho can get healthy,” Freeman said. “We have a couple guys coming back after the All-Star break. You have Kike [Hernandez] going to come back. Blake Snell’s going to come back. Tyler [Glasnow’s] back is starting to feel better.”
The Dodgers’ post-break schedule starts with a punishing three-series East Coast gauntlet. They face the New York Yankees from July 17-19, the Philadelphia Phillies from July 20-22, and the New York Mets from July 24-26.
Freeman sees the trip as a spark. “Starting in the East Coast against these teams that we’re going to face really kicks off the energy, the high intensity,” he said. “It’s kind of what we need.”
The Dodgers will need every ounce of that intensity. The Yankees and Phillies rank among baseball’s top payrolls, and the Mets aren’t far behind. A strong finish could cement home-field advantage in October: or dig the team deeper into the wild-card hunt if the slump resumes.