The Daily Chop: Freddie Freeman undergoes surgery, Ron Washington and more

The Atlanta Braves announced on Friday that first baseman Freddie Freeman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow earlier this week. The surgery was a success and Freeman is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training.

Freeman’s surgery closes the book on an unfortunate storyline that persisted throughout most of September and Atlanta’s Division Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Freeman still put up a banner season with a career-best 38 home runs but was hampered down the stretch by the elbow injury. He will likely never admit just how much the elbow played a part in his struggles during the Division Series but we should probably assume that it was significant given today’s announcement.

Braves News

• MLB.com’s Mark Bowman looks back at Josh Donaldson’s bounce back season with the Braves.
• Kolby Allard didn’t throw a pitch at the major league level for the Braves in 2019 but it looks like he will finally get a shot with the Rangers.

Braves Podcasts

Dylan and Doc dive into the NLCS & ALCS, discuss the #Braves upcoming arbitration decisions, and run down our respective lists for how to make ATL a World Series contender in 2020.

MLB Playoffs

The New York Yankees got a good performance from James Paxton who outdueled Justin Verlander in a 4-1 win over the Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS.

• CC Sabathia has officially thrown his last pitch in the major leagues. The Yankees replaced him on the ALCS roster with Ben Heller on Friday effectively ending his season and his career. Sabathia suffered a shoulder injury during the eighth inning of New York’s Game 4 loss.
• No sour grapes for Bryce Harper who told The Athletic’s Jayson Stark that he wishes his former Nationals’ teammates “nothing but the best.”

MLB News

• Ron Washington and Jayce Tingler are reportedly the front-runners to replace Andy Green as Padres manager. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweeted on Friday that many people around baseball believe that AJ Preller with pick Tingler. Tingler was also among a group that The Athletic’s Eno Sarris profiled as potentially great managers.
• Longtime Giants manager Bruce Bochy is not interested in a return to the dugout with a different organization and has reportedly informed teams that he will not accept interviews for any open positions this offseason.
• The New York Mets interviewed Padres first base coach Skip Schumaker for their vacant managerial position on Thursday.
• Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Christian Yelich were all announced as finalists for the 2019 Players Choice Player of the Year award.