Anthony Rizzo eager to share World Series stage with Freddie Freeman after shared injury battle

The veteran first baseman got injured on one of the final days of the regular season, but rushed back to play in the postseason.

At 35 years old, he is spending hours each day going through treatment and then gutting through the games because the left-handed hitter and former Gold Glover has won a World Series before and knows he can help his team be the last one standing.

Anthony Rizzo, meet Freddie Freeman.

Of course, the two need no introduction after playing against each other plenty of times throughout their careers, with Rizzo even having struck out Freeman during a 2021 game between the Cubs and Braves.

But now the Yankee with two fractured fingers and the Dodger with a badly sprained ankle are set to cross paths again on the biggest stage of them all when the World Series begins on Friday at Dodger Stadium.

“We talked before the division series a couple weeks ago,” Rizzo said Wednesday on a Zoom call before the Yankees flew to Los Angeles. “He battles. He’s a gamer and he’s putting it all on the line for his team and I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. He’s a world champion as well. He’s so respected in our game, rightfully so. It’ll be fun to share the field with him on the World Series stage. We’ve played against each other a lot throughout our careers, pretty much the same timeline. So it’ll be fun to look across at first and see him there.”