Freeman prayed while dealing with coronavirus: 'Please don't take me'
Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman got hit hard by the coronavirus.
The All-Star infielder says he feels great after recovering, but admits he was hurting so bad on July 3 that he prayed.
"Please don't take me," he said at the time, according to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic.
While he only lost one pound of body weight, Freeman said he lost his sense of smell and taste for four days and hit a fever of 104 1/2. It was unlike any sickness he'd ever dealt with.
"I've never had a 104.5 fever before," he added.
Freeman, 30, was cleared to return to camp on Friday. While his status for Opening Day isn't guaranteed, his availability hasn't been ruled out, either.
Anthopoulos on whether Freeman will be ready for Opening Day: "Right now, we’ll see how he feels the next few days. We’ll have to take it day-by-day. We’ve got a week until Opening Day He says he’s been hitting. You can never put it past him." https://t.co/rgJAGB1Ap7
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 17, 2020
Freeman has been one of the key pieces in Atlanta's offense for years and is coming off back-to-back All-Star campaigns that saw him hit .302/.388/.527 with 61 home runs and 219 RBIs over 320 games.