Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list Sunday, opening the door for Ryan Ward to get his first call to the major leagues at age 28. If Ward appears in a game, he will become the oldest Dodgers draft pick to debut with the team, surpassing Geoff Zahn’s previous mark.
Freeman and his wife, Chelsea, are expecting their fourth child, a daughter who would join their three sons. Major League Baseball’s paternity leave runs from a minimum of one day to a maximum of three, which means Ward’s chance with Los Angeles could be brief.
Ward, who was drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round out of Bryant in 2019, has spent years climbing through the system and reached Oklahoma City in 2023. The Dodgers added him to the 40-man roster on Nov. 6 after a 2025 season that made him one of the Pacific Coast League’s standout hitters.
This season in Triple-A, Ward is hitting.324/.432/.588 with a 165 wRC+, four home runs, six doubles and 14 RBI in 18 games while splitting time between first base and left field. He won Pacific Coast League MVP last season after hitting 36 home runs with a.290/.380/.557 line and a 132 wRC+ in 2025, and he added five homers in nine games for Team USA in the Premier12 tournament in Tokyo in 2024.
Ward also left Oklahoma City with modern career records at the current ballpark for 94 home runs and 322 runs batted in, and during his MVP campaign he set club marks for hits, home runs, RBI and runs scored. The Dodgers’ need at first base has been crowded by Freeman, Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter and Max Muncy at third base, leaving Ward with a narrow opening that now depends on how long Freeman remains away.
The roster move gives Ward a long-awaited chance, but the paternity clock makes it a fast-moving one. For a player who waited through the minors and forced his way onto the 40-man roster, the next at-bat may decide whether this is only a footnote or the start of something larger.
