Watching some of the postseason, it became clear that Freddie Freeman had been dealing with a severe right ankle sprain throughout October. On Thursday, the Dodgers first baseman underwent surgery on said ankle, the team announced.

The procedure carried out by Dr. Kenneth Jung at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles included debriding and removal of exposed body parts in Freeman’s ankle. The Dodgers say Freeman is expected to participate in baseball activities during spring training.

Freeman sprained his ankle on September 26, the final week of the regular season, and played through October. It was later revealed that Freeman was also playing with a broken rib that he suffered just before the NLDS. The team managed his playing time as best as possible, ejecting him early in five games and having him sit out completely three times in the first two rounds.

In the World Series, Freeman’s ankle felt much better, and after failing to record any extra-base hits in his first eight postseason games, he hit a home run in each of the first four games of the World Series, including the game-winner 1 with a legendary walk-off grand slam, the first of its kind in the history of the Fall Classic.

Freeman hit .300/.364/1.000 against the Yankees and drove in a record 12 runs in just five games to win the World Series MVP.