When Freddie Freeman left the field after a round of batting practice during an off Saturday before Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, he and Dave Roberts had yet to discuss his status for Sunday’s potentially pennant-clinching game.

However, the dejected look on Freeman’s face said it all.

As Roberts had hinted this week, Freeman was not in the starting lineup for Sunday’s Game 6. He held on after allowing just one hit in his previous 15 at-bats while battling a limiting sprained ankle.

“I’m not going to jeopardize his health, and certainly not win a game tomorrow, if he’s not mentally and/or physically ready to go,” Roberts said during his off-season press conference.

Apparently Freeman wasn’t.

Freddie Freeman walks back to the dugout after striking out in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Mets on October 14.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“He just doesn’t feel like himself,” Roberts said before Sunday’s game. “So we just felt like another day might help.”

The lineup news didn’t really come as a surprise. Despite missing only two of the Dodgers’ first ten games in these playoffs while dealing with an ankle injury that he said would normally require a four-to-six week injury layoff in the regular season, Freeman’s play took off to slip during the new competition. York Phase of the NLCS.

The eight-time All-Star and former NL Most Valuable Player was clearly not moving well. His ankle not only hindered his swing, but also prevented him from solving the mechanical problems he had felt at the plate.

And even though Freeman went through several rounds of batting practice Saturday, he didn’t seem happy with the way the ball was coming off his bat, shaking his head repeatedly as he chatted with coaches between his forays into the net.

“I think the swing is affected because of the ankle,” Roberts said of Freeman. “He’s grinding.”

Freeman could still be available off the bench. And, as Roberts noted, the Dodgers are hoping that if they advance to the World Series, the career .300 hitter will benefit from the extra rest.

But they’ll at least have to try to get there on Sunday without him at first base.

Here is the rest of the Dodgers’ lineup for Game 6, with Max Muncy moving to first, Kiké Hernández taking over third and Andy Pages in center field: