TAMPA, Fla. — First, the meme made Freddie Freeman laugh.
Then, in a serendipitous twist, it gave him a lightning-bulb epiphany about his recently ailing swing.
At the end of a long day during last week’s homestand — when Freeman was hit by a pitch on July 20, immediately removed from the game to get an X-ray, then informed he somehow hadn’t sustained serious injury — manager Dave Roberts shared with the first baseman a comical video edit he had received from a friend. A light reprieve at the end of a stressful day.