Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman will not be in the starting lineup for Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday, on the road against the New York Mets.
Freeman, who has been playing on a sprained right ankle since the postseason began, will be replaced at first base by Max Muncy. Enrique Hernandez will take over for Muncy at third base, while rookie Andy Pages plays in center field after Hernandez started there in Games 1 and 3.
The Dodgers are loading up on right-handed hitters in Game 4 against Mets left-hander Jose Quintana. Freeman is 5-for-16 (.313) lifetime against Quintana with a double and a home run.
Muncy and Shohei Ohtani are the only left-handed bats in the Los Angeles lineup against Quintana. Both hit home runs in Game 3, while Muncy has reached base in each of his last eight plate appearances.
Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux also will be out of the starting lineup Thursday, as the left-handed hitter is replaced by the right-handed hitting Chris Taylor. Lux did not start in Game 2 of the NLCS with hip flexor tendon tightness.
Freeman rolled his right ankle while running through first base in a Sept. 26 game against the San Diego Padres, which was also the night the Dodgers clinched the NL West title. He missed the final three regular-season games.
In the playoffs, a visibly hampered Freeman was limited to six innings in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres and did not play in Game 4 of the NLDS. He started at first base in each of the first three NLCS games but departed in the late innings of Games 1 and 3, after Los Angeles took big leads.
