After holding their collective breath for more than 24 hours awaiting an update on the extent of the hamstring injury suffered by Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman during Tuesday’s Team Canada WBC game, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief when that update was delivered by the future Hall of Famer himself on Wednesday evening.

Asked by SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson how he’s feeling and how he injured his right hammy, the 33-year-old Villa Park, CA native and second-round draft pick in 2007 by the Atlanta Braves out of El Modena High School in Orange, CA had this to say:

“I feel okay. Yesterday, my second at-bat, fastball outside, I kinda reached for it, and for some reason, a little tightness in my hamstring, my right one, as I was running down to first base. I thought it was a cramp but it obviously didn’t go away. So I played the half inning on defense covering first base, still felt it, so just a precautionary thing of coming out of the game. I know all you guys know it takes a lot for me to come out of a game, but that was the decision we had to make at that point in time.”

Asked if Opening Day was in doubt, Freeman was adamant that it is not:

“Opening Day is not in doubt. Took a complete day off, just finished three hours of treatment. If everything goes this well, I am shooting for games this weekend at the Cactus League.”

Breathe easy, Dodgers fans.

…for now.

Play Ball!

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