Rangers’ Cody Freeman Slams First MLB Home Run Against Guardians

Texas Rangers rookie Cody Freeman’s first MLB home run was reminiscent of his first minor league home run.

Texas Rangers second baseman Cody Freeman (39) waits in the on deck circle during the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

ARLINGTON — In many ways, Texas Rangers second baseman Cody Freeman's first Major League home run was a lot like his first minor league home run.

Both home runs gave his team the lead. Both home runs led Freeman to run the bases with emotion and adrenaline. And both home runs led his team to victories. The only real difference was that with his first MLB home run he didn’t twist his ankle.

Freeman hit his first Major League home run in Texas’ 10-0 win over Cleveland on Saturday night at Globe Life Field. It came in the second inning and drove in Josh Jung to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. He hit a 1-0, 92 mph fastball from Cleveland starter Logan Allen 385 feet over the left-field wall.

The smile on his face after he hit the home run could have lit up the ballpark. After getting congratulations from his teammates and his coaches, he disappeared into the bowels of the dugout briefly.

“I just went in the hallway and soaked it in a little bit,” Freeman said.

Cody Freeman’s Big Night

1st Big League bomb for @CFree22_! #AllForTX pic.twitter.com/GSs7gPVFMZ

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) August 23, 2025

Freeman finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored as he pushed his MLB average up to .172. He started at second base in place of Marcus Semien, who was placed on the 10-day IL on Saturday with a left foot contusion.

Semien’s absence from the lineup may give Freeman a chance to stick around for a little while. He made his MLB debut on July 18 due to an injury, stayed for a week and collected his first Major League hit, but was sent back to Triple-A Round Rock a week later. Saturday’s home run was his fourth MLB hit.

With the Express he has been terrific all season. The 24-year-old is slashing .336/.382/.549 with 19 home runs and 71 RBI. He’s having a career season in the minor leagues and he’s hoping to get some traction with the Rangers, who could use some extra power in the lineup.

How important is a first Major League home run? Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, now 70 years old, remembers his first. It was on July 20, 1978, with the Houston Astros. He slammed one off Kevin Kobel in the sixth inning. He hit 26 career home runs.

“He just plays with so much energy and enthusiasm, you can see how fired up he was,” Bochy said. “It was a big one. It got us going.”

Freeman will always remember Saturday night. But he remembered his first minor league home run, vividly so, when asked about it. He was a fourth-round pick of the Rangers in 2019 out of high school in California. But he didn’t hit his first professional home run until 2021, thanks in part of the COVID shutdown of minor league baseball in 2020.

It was on May 22, 2021, with Class-A Down East against the Charleston RiverDogs. Freeman remembered so much of it one didn’t need to consult the play-by-play to reconstruct the night.

“This is crazy,” he said. “It was actually, if you bring up the video, it's the same exact type because we were down 2-1 in Charleston, bottom of the ninth, 3-2 or 2-2 count, Dustin Harris on first and I chop a homer to take the lead, and we end up winning the game. I was going nuts around the bases. I hit home plate, and I twisted my ankle. So I was just as hyped, honestly.”

The Rangers could use more hype. They could use more slug. Freeman may be in a position to deliver both.