World Baseball Classic

[Jim Goulart]

 

[wiguy94]

Brutal days for Rowdy and Luis today for Mexico. Rowdy 0-5. Luis 0-4 and a 10th inning error that allowed the go-ahead run to score for Colombia. 

[Brewcrew82]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

Brutal days for Rowdy and Luis today for Mexico. Rowdy 0-5. Luis 0-4 and a 10th inning error that allowed the go-ahead run to score for Colombia. 

Better to get it out now than during the season I guess.

[SF70]

Frelick with a laser line drive base hit to RF scoring a run in the bottom of the 4th. Italy up 6-1  after a Nicky Lopez triple. 

[SF70]

Frelick with a 1 out 2B in the 6th.  

[SF70]

Frelick with his 3rd straight hit, a one out bullet off the pitchers glove and into CF scoring another run for Italy. They are now up 7-1 in the eighth.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Yep, Frelick is sure making things interesting. It's still unlikely he is on the OD roster but watching him insert himself into the conversation is a lot of fun.

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Brewcrew82]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yep, Frelick is sure making things interesting. It's still unlikely he is on the OD roster but watching him insert himself into the conversation is a lot of fun.

I’ll be mad if they hold him down for any longer than a couple weeks to gain the extra year of control. Naquin ain’t a reason to do so. 

[Pugger]

Did D. Williams pitch against Great Britain last night?

[MVP2110]

So Pool A finished in a 5 way tie with all 5 teams finishing 2-2, that is wild

[SF70]

44 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I’ll be mad if they hold him down for any longer than a couple weeks to gain the extra year of control. Naquin ain’t a reason to do so. 

Frelick needs to be this team’s next positional extention and soon. They should be able to get a deal done for less than the Dbacks inked Carroll for. 

Frelick is special. Waiting until he faces big-league pitching in big-league games  potentially prices him out of this teams price-range. 

[markedman5]

 

[Outlander]

Will be nice to see Frelick near the top of the lineup for the Brewers, may not be opening day but coming soon. Will get on base and produce runs.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, MVP2110 said:

So Pool A finished in a 5 way tie with all 5 teams finishing 2-2, that is wild

I noticed that this morning, hilarious.

[Brock Beauchamp]

49 minutes ago, SF70 said:

Frelick needs to be this team’s next positional extention and soon. They should be able to get a deal done for less than the Dbacks inked Carroll for. 

Frelick is special. Waiting until he faces big-league pitching in big-league games  potentially prices him out of this teams price-range. 

I don't think Frelick is the kind of prospect that prices himself out of anyone's range. I mean, what's his reasonable ceiling? Luis Arraez with better defensive value?

That's not an expensive player to retain should a team wish to do so.

[SF70]

7 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I don't think Frelick is the kind of prospect that prices himself out of anyone's range. I mean, what's his reasonable ceiling? Luis Arraez with better defensive value?

That's not an expensive player to retain should a team wish to do so.

A 4+ WAR player as is with a few 5-7 WAR seasons with a slight increase in his launch angle.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, SF70 said:

A 4+ WAR player as is with a few 5-7 WAR seasons with a slight increase in his launch angle.

Frelick's lack of power lowers his potential earnings in modern baseball, and by quite a bit. Batting average isn't the huge draw it was in the past. Luis Arraez, the 2022 AL batting champion with elite plate discipline but little power, was worth roughly two wins last season on offense.

Chourio is the type of guy that could price himself out of Milwaukee in a hurry. Sal Frelick is not.

[SF70]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Frelick's lack of power lowers his potential earnings in modern baseball, and by quite a bit. Batting average isn't the huge draw it was in the past. Luis Arraez, the 2022 AL batting champion with elite plate discipline but little power, was worth roughly two wins last season on offense.

Chourio is the type of guy that could price himself out of Milwaukee in a hurry. Sal Frelick is not.

Defense & baserunning to go along with that BTB pushes him well past Arraez. Frelick is also quite strong and great hitters with strength many times learn to lift and hit HR’s. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 minutes ago, SF70 said:

Defense & baserunning to go along with that BTB pushes him well past Arraez. Frelick is also quite strong and great hitters with strength many times learn to lift and hit HR’s. 

I'm not bashing Frelick or anything but it feels like you're wish-casting on him a bit. Could he develop power? Sure. But he's also 22 years old, which is young but it's "good prospect young" not "historically young".

Every Brewers fan should be wildly thrilled if Sal Frelick ends up being as valuable as Luis Arraez, never mind more valuable than Arraez.

It's possible Frelick ends up being a perpetual 5 win player but realize that's at least a 95th percentile outcome for him. What's far more likely - a 50th percentile outcome - is that he's a decent starter for a few years and sticks around MLB in a bench capacity for several years afterward.

Never treat a prospect as a sure thing unless they're so absurdly young and absurdly good that them becoming a star seems inevitable.

[SF70]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm not bashing Frelick or anything but it feels like you're wish-casting on him a bit. Could he develop power? Sure. But he's also 22 years old, which is young but it's "good prospect young" not "historically young".

Every Brewers fan should be wildly thrilled if Sal Frelick ends up being as valuable as Luis Arraez, never mind more valuable than Arraez.

It's possible Frelick ends up being a perpetual 5 win player but realize that's at least a 95th percentile outcome for him. What's far more likely - a 50th percentile outcome - is that he's a decent starter for a few years and sticks around MLB in a bench capacity for several years afterward.

Never treat a prospect as a sure thing unless they're so absurdly young and absurdly good that them becoming a star seems inevitable.

I don’t think it’s wishcasting at all to point out his defense and baserunning will very likely get him to 4 WARwith his hit-tool.

Arraez is all hit-tool, without speed and defense, which is why he’s stuck as a 2ish WAR player. 

Maybe Frelick never adjusts his launch angle to take advantage of his strength, but to see his skills as a starter for a couple of years then a bench bat is far too negative imo.

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 minutes ago, SF70 said:

I don’t think it’s wishcasting at all to point out his defense and baserunning will very likely get him to 4 WARwith his hit-tool.

Arraez is all hit-tool, without speed and defense, which is why he’s stuck as a 2ish WAR player. 

Maybe Frelick never adjusts his launch angle to take advantage of his strength, but to see his skills as a starter for a couple of years then a bench bat is far too negative imo.

My point is that it's a huge assumption to believe Frelick will be as good as Arraez against MLB pitching. Frelick will certainly bring more defensive value, raising his floor, but given his (current) lack of power, he's almost entirely relying on his hit tool and discipline. And if his hit tool can't keep up with MLB pitching, throw that discipline out the window because it won't matter, pitchers will pound the zone because he won't be able to do anything against it.

Arraez was almost a year younger than Frelick is today and he was already succeeding against MLB pitching. Frelick has a ways to go to show he can hit MLB pitching, much less hit like Arraez.

Which is why I almost never assume a prospect will succeed in MLB until they do so. I'm cheering for Frelick just like everybody else but I'm skeptical someone with that toolset will be even average until they show competency against MLB pitching.

(I was equally skeptical of Arraez in 2019, FTR)

[CheeseheadInQC]

I guess some of it relies on what you think his power potential is. If you think last year’s 11 is the most he will hit, that is one thing, but if you think, especially in a park that suits him, he is a 15-20 home run guy. That, along with defensive improvement could make him a (hopefully) healthier AJ Pollock, and if he had stayed healthy, Pollock would have been paid.

[brewcrewdue80]

2 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

All 3 hits are on a shortened swing full contact. Something that the lineup needs. A contact BA/OB hitter who won't strikeout 25pct or more of the time.  His ceiling is limited based on slugging but the floor is supremely higher.  Think Ichiro in that he could swing for HRs and hit them, but knowing that fly balls that don't clear the fence are often caught. 

He has a 5'10" build that isn't on the hit for power side. He should stay productive where he's at. The key on this type of batter is the ability on taking walks 8pct+ and keeping his K rate below 17pct.  Can probably say 900OPS seasons won't exist for him. But below 750 OPS seasons may not exist for him either once he's gained enough experience.

 

[Ro Mueller]

Future All-Star Sal Frelick will be a fun addition to the team: