Atlanta Braves: Freddie Freeman Injures Knee During Infield Drills

It appears the string of injuries that swept through Turner Field last season has followed the Atlanta Braves south to their spring training complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

First baseman Freddie Freeman is the latest casualty among the injured this spring, according to SportingNews.com.

Reports have indicated Freeman’s kneecap popped out of place as he reached to scoop a low throw to first during infield drills on Tuesday.

David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported via Twitter that “Freeman is scheduled to have his injured knee examined by a specialist in Orlando on Wednesday.”

Early indications are that he has a partial dislocation of the kneecap and he should only miss one to two weeks of spring training.

Freeman spoke to MLB.com about the incident. "I was just doing pick drills and the knee gave out," he said. "The kneecap went this way and I came back in. When I did this when I was playing in Triple-A, it took me two weeks. So that is what we are going on."

Freeman finished second behind teammate Craig Kimbrel in the National League Rookie of the Year voting after posting a slash line of .282/.346/.448 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI.

This injury comes on the heels of starter Tommy Hanson suffering a mild concussion after a one-car accident on February 20. Hanson was en route to report for pitchers and catchers on the first official day of spring camp.

Hanson has been limited to light baseball activity since the accident.

He has yet to pass the concussion ImPACT test and must retake it again on Thursday. If all goes as expected he could throw to live batters as early as Thursday.

Atlanta plays their first spring training game on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers.

Jim Pratt is a Featured Columnist covering the Atlanta Braves for Bleacher Report, MLB contributor for MLBDepthCharts and BravesWire. Follow Jim on Twitter, @2OutSacBunt