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Alex Freeland claims final spot on Dodgers’ Opening Day roster

March 23, 2026

ANAHEIM — In what Dave Roberts called the toughest decision of the spring, Alex Freeland earned the last spot on the Dodgers Opening Day roster over Hyeseong Kim.

The Dodgers left Arizona Saturday with 25 of the 26 roster spots set, and a decision looming between Freeland and Kim for the 26th spot.

Freeland, who appeared in 29 major league games last season, was informed Sunday morning that he would be making his first Opening Day roster.

“It means everything. I think I’ve dreamed of this since I was a little kid, being on an Opening Day roster, playing major league baseball,” Freeland said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was four years old.”

Freeland, 24, had a lackluster spring, going 5 for 43 (.116) and a .518 OPS, but he feels good about where he is heading into the regular season.

“You could definitely look at the stats and say, ‘yeah, he had a terrible spring training,’ but in my eyes I’m working on certain things and I achieved certain goals,” Freeland said. “I feel comfortable with how spring training went. Obviously, it wasn’t to my standards, but there’s good in there. It’s not just looking at a batting average.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed Freeland’s assessment of his spring and said that Freeland had nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.

“I think the at-bat quality has been fine. He just hasn’t finished off the at-bats,” Roberts said. “I’ve always said I don’t evaluate completely through spring training. Alex played a lot, didn’t have a great spring, but played great defensively. Talking to the front office, we felt that with what he’s done before in the past at Triple-A, give him this opportunity and see where it leads.”

Freeland struggled in his brief time in the majors last season, posting a .190 batting average with a .601 OPS. But Freeland was very good in Triple-A Oklahoma City last season with a .384 on-base percentage and 16 home runs in 106 games.

Kim was much more productive this spring than Freeland, with a .407 batting average in 30 plate appearances. He played for South Korea in the World Baseball Classic. He missed much of spring training with the Dodgers.

Roberts said Kim would benefit from getting more consistent playing time in Triple-A rather than getting sporadic playing time in the major leagues.

“There’s no doubt that Hyeseong at some point is going to come help us out,” Roberts said. “I think the driver, as far as at the outset, was giving Hyeseong an opportunity to play every day, play all over the diamond, play some short, some center, some second base there, whereas here he wouldn’t have the runway to play more frequently.”

Roberts also noted that the time away from the team during the World Baseball Classic may have hindered Kim’s progress during the spring.

“I think the only thing that hurt him is that he wasn’t around our guys to build on some of the stuff they were working through,” Roberts said. “I’m happy he went and played for his country, but I do think that not having our guys on him daily was a little bit of a detriment.”

“The driver is him playing six days a week and logging a considerable number of at-bats, which he wouldn’t get here.”

Roberts said Freeland is expected to get the lion’s share of playing time at second base, particularly against right-handed pitching. Miguel Rojas is expected to play second base against left-handed pitching.

PITCHING PLAN

One of the other decisions Roberts will have to make is regarding the sixth spot in the starting rotation. The Dodgers do not need a sixth starter until they host the New York Mets on April 13-15 due to off days between series.

Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski have both made the team but one of them will open the season in the bullpen. Roberts said the decision has not yet been made regarding the starting rotation.

Shohei Ohtani will pitch Tuesday in the spring training finale against the Angels at Dodger Stadium. Roberts said either Sheehan or Wrobleski will “piggyback” Ohtani.

Ohtani pitching on Tuesday sets him up to likely pitch the fifth game of the season against Cleveland on Mar. 31.

ANGELS ROTATION SET

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki announced that Jack Kochanowicz and Ryan Johnson will round out the starting rotation when the regular season begins on Thursday.

“They’ve been working their butts off, and we feel that they’ve earned it,” Suzuki said. “We are really excited for them.”

Suzuki also confirmed that Grayson Rodriguez will open the season on the injured list with what he described as “dead arm.” Rodriguez threw 85 pitches March 13. He started to feel some general soreness after the start.

Suzuki previously said Rodriguez may throw a bullpen session Saturday. It never happened.

“We said from the beginning we’re going to be careful with him to a point, so right now we’re just going to slow play it a little bit,” Suzuki said. “With the dead arm, we’re making sure everything’s good before he gets going. He’s been playing catch, doing his strengthening exercises and he’s feeling good.”

Rodriguez made four starts this spring and had a 4.97 ERA in 12⅔ innings. He has not pitched in a regular season game since July of 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles and underwent elbow debridement surgery to remove bone chips in August 2025.

Walbert Ureña, 22, has made the Opening Day roster and will start the season in the bullpen. Ureña has only pitched one game above the Double-A level and has a 4.60 ERA in 15⅔ innings this spring.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 0-1, 7.27 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 1-0, 13.50 ERA), Monday, 6:10 p.m.

Orange County Register

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Alex Freeland claims final spot on Dodgers’ Opening Day roster

PITCHING PLAN

ANGELS ROTATION SET

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