The Dodgers recalled catcher Hunter Feduccia to the large leagues earlier in the present day, who takes the place of Freddie Freeman after the previous MVP was positioned on the household emergency record. Feduccia was already on the 40-man roster after being added forward of the Rule 5 Draft again in November, although his first recreation motion will probably be his MLB debut.
Feduccia, 27, was the Dodgers’ Twelfth-round decide within the 2017 draft. The catcher climbed by the membership’s minor league system to finally attain the Triple-A stage again in 2022 and has remained there ever since. His already strong offensive numbers have steadily improved throughout his time on the stage, and he’s slashing a robust .295/.420/.451 with a 124 wRC+ and a 16.8% stroll price towards an 18.6% strikeout price in 64 video games on the stage this yr. Ranked twenty fifth within the Dodgers farm system by Fangraphs coming into this season, Feduccia pairs these strong offensive numbers with pretty robust work behind the plate. His framing and blocking expertise are each robust, although his arm is considerably lackluster for the place and leaves him to wrestle with controlling the working recreation at occasions.
With Will Smith because the Dodgers on a regular basis catcher and Austin Barnes performing as the first backup to Smith, Feduccia appears unlikely to get a lot enjoying time whereas he’s within the majors exterior of doable pinch-hit appearances. That being stated, its doable that the Dodgers take this chance to see how Feduccia performs on the large league stage with Barnes at the moment within the last assured yr of his contract. The Dodgers have a $3.5MM staff possibility on the 34-year-old’s companies for 2025, nonetheless, and he’s rebounded from a brutal 2023 season to publish roughly league common (99 wRC+) offensive numbers this season.
As for Freeman, Noah Camras of Dodgers Nation relays that the primary baseman’s spouse, Chelsea, wrote in an instagram publish earlier this week that their son, Maximus, was coping with well being points. Freeman is now headed again dwelling to L.A. from the membership’s highway journey to Houston, and supervisor Dave Roberts advised reporters (together with Invoice Plunkett of the Orange County Register) yesterday that Freeman’s son was nonetheless present process exams and that he was not anticipating Freeman being out there through the the rest of their collection towards the Astros.
With a time off on Monday, Roberts added that the membership “will see” if a return to motion for Freeman is feasible when the membership returns to California for collection towards the Padres in San Diego and the A’s in Oakland subsequent week. Within the meantime, Cavan Biggio has been dealing with first base in Freeman’s absence. The 29-year-old was acquired by the Dodgers from the Blue Jays final month after he was designated for project by Toronto, and he’s struggled in a bench function with L.A. ever since. In 59 journeys to the plate since becoming a member of the Dodgers, Biggio has hit a paltry .180/.281/.240 with a 30.5% strikeout price whereas splitting time between first base, third base, and proper discipline.
