Team Canada star Freddie Freeman has been pulled out of the World Baseball Classic by the Los Angeles Dodgers, leaving his team with a massive gap to fill in its must-win game against Mexico.
"He's out of this tournament for now," said manager Ernie Whitt. "The Dodgers decided that. He's over in camp right now getting looked at by the doctors and training staff. He'll miss today's game, obviously."
The decision to not play Freeman against Mexico had been made Tuesday after the first baseman left Canada's game against Colombia with a lower-body injury.
"Right now, he had tightness in his hammy. And, of course, for precautionary reasons we took him out of the game right away," said Whitt after Tuesday's 5-0 win. "He felt something on one of his swings, his second at-bat. So, again we would do that to anyone if there's discomfort or something like that, we're going to take them out."
Canada needs to pull off a victory against Mexico to advance on to the World Baseball Classic's quarterfinal round. The team is not allowed to make any roster changes until then.
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