Freddie Freeman injury: Dodgers first baseman twists ankle, but Los Angeles is optimistic about playoff status

The Los Angeles Dodgers secured the National League West for the eleventh time in twelve seasons with a win against the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. They also secured a bye in the wildcard round, an advantage that could come in handy immediately. That's because it should give All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman more time to recover after twisting his ankle late in Thursday's game.

Freeman suffered the illness in the seventh inning while trying to avoid a tag at first base. After the game, he underwent an imaging test and the X-rays came back negative. Still, Freeman wore a running shoe after the game and is not expected to play this weekend, Dodgers top manager Andrew Friedman told reporters. Friedman said the team is “not too concerned” at this point.

The Dodgers will close out the regular season with a three-game road trip to Colorado against the Rockies. Los Angeles has a one-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies and is at the top of both the National League and Major League Baseball playoffs. It's worth noting that the Phillies have the tiebreaker in hand, so the Dodgers theoretically still have something to play for this weekend.

The 35-year-old Freeman delivered another great regular season. In 147 games, he hit .282/.378/.476 (143 OPS+) with 22 home runs, 89 runs batted in and nine stolen bases (in 11 attempts). According to Baseball Reference's calculations, his contributions were estimated at 4.7 wins above replacement. He also reached his eighth career All-Star Game.

The MLB playoff schedule has the Dodgers not playing their first postseason game until Saturday, October 5th. Therefore, in the meantime, Freeman will have more than a week to heal his ankle.