Freddie Freeman hits first Dodgers (spring) home run, Julio Urías pitches 2 innings

Freddie Freeman hit his first home run in a Dodgers uniform on Friday night, going deep to the opposite field, into the home bullpen against Padres right-hander Nick Martinez in the first inning at Camelback Ranch.

Friday was the third game for Freeman since joining the Dodgers, and the second of back-to-back games for the first time this spring for the first baseman. The home run came one week after Freeman officially signed his six-year, $162 million contract.

Stretch time

Julio Urías allowed two home runs and three runs in his first Cactus League game. “Better now than during the regular season,” Urías said of the home runs, through an interpreter, on the SportsNet LA broadcast. He also struck out four.

But given the truncated spring training, pitcher workloads are at front of mind at the moment. Urías went two innings and threw 37 pitches. Given a normal progression in likely two more spring starts, Urías could easily line up for one of the final two games of the opening season at Coors Field and likely be built up to pitch five innings or so.

It’s likely going to be a scramble for innings in the first few weeks of the season as starters are still getting stretched out. It’s why there’s expected to be two extra spots, allowing for 28 players instead of 26 on the active roster in April.

Four more years

Dave Roberts and the Dodgers officially finalized a contract extension on Friday, reportedly adding three years to his existing deal, which takes him through 2025. It was a move that just about everyone expected, even if the urgency wasn’t always apparent.

“We didn’t start talking about this until, I think it was right before the lockout. We just had little, ‘We’re trying to figure something out,’” Roberts told reporters Friday in Arizona. “Then after the lockout, we kind of got — I don’t want to say sidetracked, but other things took precedence, which is good.”