Dodgers fans must hope Freddie Freeman's take on injury struggles isn't misguided

The Dodgers were in a deep, dark rut heading into the All-Star break, and although there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel with a few key players expected to return from injury, the break was a necessary reset for both the team and fans. LA has 15 players on the IL, and 12 of them are pitchers, which explains the absolute mess of the Dodgers' past month.

This team doesn't exactly look like the team that was promised at the beginning of the season. For Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernández, it's been business as usual, but Mookie Betts is hurt, Tyler Glasnow is down, Will Smith has experienced a few bumps this season, and the bottom of the lineup has mostly turned into one mid monolith that makes us angry to even think about.

When asked about the struggles the Dodgers have been facing this summer, specifically about the copious injuries, Freeman had an optimistic outlook. He called LA "battle-tested" and said, "Sometimes it's actually kinda good. [...] It can bring a group closer and closer together."

Freddie Freeman is trying to stay positive amidst Dodgers' summer struggles

He did acknowledge that the Dodgers have been playing absolutely middling baseball, saying, "Over the last 40 games, we're like a .500 team. We've been grinding really hard through those 40-45 games. That actually can help, I think."

Freeman hit the nail on the head: the Dodgers have been a .500 team (22-22 exactly) since their series against the Reds in late May, which they entered at .641. While playing .500 ball is good enough for mid-market teams working to get into contention within the next few years, it's unacceptable for the richest team in baseball that went to great pains to hype themselves up as this year's already-decided-upon World Series winners.

It's good that Freeman is staying optimistic, though...? At least he could recognize that the Dodgers are playing poorly, and if he's right and it brings the team together, great. However, the injuries are totally out of his or the Dodgers' control, and patience and hope have worn thin for the players who aren't carrying their weight. Relying on bounce backs from myriad injured players won't "bring anyone closer together" if they never occur. The team still needs to supplement the core to figure out what they're really made of. Persevering is part of the puzzle, but it's too much of a dice roll for the roster to believe things will magically get better because they've been battle tested.

Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, and Brusdar Graterol are due back pretty soon, but other than that it seems like no changes will or even can be made internally to pick these Dodgers back up again. It's just a waiting game now, on returns from injury or the trade deadline, where hopefully both the lineup and pitching staff will be greeted with a spark that will send them on an upswing through the rest of the year.