CINCINNATI -- was out of the Dodgers' starting lineup for Monday night's series opener against the Reds at Great American Ball Park as the star first baseman continues to manage soreness in his right knee, which he has described as patellar tendinitis.

It marked the third time in the Dodgers' past five games that Freeman was not in the starting nine. Manager Dave Roberts reaffirmed that he does not believe Freeman will go on the injured list, and he's expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday.

"I just think right now, with where we’re at in the season, an IL is not an option in the sense of -- I personally don’t think we have a better option," Roberts said. "I don’t think it needs to be 10 days. But could it be more than one? That’s a fair question."

Freeman is essentially day to day moving forward. Roberts believes that Freeman's knee has impacted his offensive performance lately, as the 37-year-old is hitting 3-for-30 (.100) with just one extra-base hit in September. 

There is some evidence that the knee has been hindering Freeman for longer, as his power numbers have dropped off over the past couple months. He only has one home run in his past 55 games, and he's slugging .350 in that span.

For most of his power drought, Freeman was still hitting for average and consistently getting on base. But when his overall performance took a dip earlier this month, the Dodgers opted to rest him, knowing how important he will be to their offense in the postseason. Freeman is hitting .293 with an .818 OPS in 142 games this season.

Roberts is hopeful that giving Freeman time off now will make it less likely that he'll have to manage his knee throughout the postseason.

"I think that if we can kind of manage it … depending on how the season goes, as far as the recovery," Roberts said. "And then also in the postseason, there’s more off-days. So I think that just trying to get ahold of it, I think that’s the main thing."

The Dodgers' lineup is far from full strength in mid-September, with a dozen regular-season games remaining. Shohei Ohtani is on the 15-day IL due to lingering right biceps and left knee issues and won't be eligible to be activated until Sept. 23. Andy Pages is working his way back from a fracture in his left hand and is also unlikely to return until the final week. 

Freeman isn't the only active Dodger who is banged up. Miguel Rojas, who exited early on Sunday after aggravating his right shoulder, was back in the starting lineup on Monday. Rojas is sore but playable, so he'll start against the Reds' left-handed starters this week in Cincinnati.

It's commonly said that every player is dealing with some kind of physical issue, big or small, at this point in the season. Not only have the injuries piled up for the Dodgers of late, but they have affected some of their most important hitters.

But for the Dodgers, who entered Monday a win away from clinching their 14th consecutive postseason berth, the rest of the regular season is less consequential than the games that come after. They will use these final two weeks -- and if they finish with a top-two record in the NL, the bye week -- to get their injured players right in time for the postseason.

"Honestly, I think right now it's front of mind, it's not great," Roberts said. "But I will say this: Once you get to October, athletes have a magical way of feeling better. It happens every single year, where there's that extra adrenaline that athletes get when you get to the postseason.”