Frelick working on second and third base with Dustin Pedroia

[Brewcrew82]

3 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

A certain 1st round pick with a hitterish pedigree as a collegiate prospect hit 0.303 with a mid-900s OPS in his first 348 MLB plate appearances, after which the Brewers started trying to find ways to keep his bat in the lineup by shifting him to other defensive positions because they didn't yet have the DH to use.  Now he's trying to find a way to hang onto his MLB career in the Detroit Tigers spring camp. 

I am hopeful Frelick does keep developing and proves to be a young player with some positional versatility and offensive upside to justify trying to turn him into a utility player.  Personally, I think his best value to the Brewers for the longterm may be as trade bait between now and the start of next season while that upside and years of team control are still the first thing teams look at, particularly when the position Frelick is most likely to have the most player value (CF) is blocked for him by both a younger and more talented player the Brewers just committed to longterm (Chourio), and a better defender with more power potential (Mitchell).  I'm excluding Wiemer, who is also a better defender but profiles as a corner OFer much more easily than Frelick.

 

Frelick was a better defender than Mitchell and Wiemer last year…

[monty57]

I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. 

Turang has been named the starting 2B, and Adames will be the starting SS.

That leaves 3B for Frelick, Ortiz and Monastario. They have been giving a lot of reps to Frelick in the IF this spring, but Ortiz was one of the guys they got in their big offseason trade. 

My hunch is that Ortiz will be the starter, while Frelick is used in the "Ben Zobrist role" where he will get a lot of starts throughout the season, but will be all over the field (LF, CF, RF, 2B, 3B). This is a nice weapon to have, as everyone can get days off to keep them fresh, and there isn't a significant downgrade when a starter is out of the lineup.

It also allows them some pinch hitting flexibility. Let's say Bauers is a decent hitter. They could (for example) pinch hit for Turang in a critical situation and then move Frelick to 2B. Other than "big lefty bat off the bench," I don't really see a reason for Bauers on the roster as the backup 1B to Hoskins, who should play nearly every day.

I've always liked Frelick as a Lenny Dykstra-type "go all out" kind of player. He puts the bat on the ball, has good speed and instincts, and plays great defense. This added flexibility makes him more valuable, and I think he'll help the Brewers out a lot over the next half-decade playing a role many players couldn't handle.

[brewerfan82]

Two weeks from Opening Day and here's the playing time breakdown at 3B this Spring so far:

• Sal Frelick - 40 innings at 3B (31 at RF)
• Oliver Dunn - 30 innings at 3B (15 at 2B)
• Brock Wilken - 28 innings at 3B
• Christian Arroyo - 16 innings at 3B (6 at 2B)
• Vinny Capra - 14 innings at 3B (19 at 2B, 13 at SS)
• Joey Ortiz - 12 innings at 3B (27 at SS, 3 at 2B)
• Andruw Monasterio - 12 innings at 3B (17 at 2B, 16 at SS)
• Tyler Black - 6 innings at 3B (44 at 1B)
• Owen Miller - 5 innings at 3B (32 at 2B, 15 at 1B)
• Juan Baez - 4 innings at 3B (4 at 2B)
• Patrick Dorrian - 4 innings at 3B (6 at 1B)
• Jadher Areinamo - 3 innings at 3B (3 at 2B)

Barring a last minute Adames trade, I would still anticipate Ortiz getting the bulk of the work at 3B, but they certainly have been giving Frelick a serious look there and have been trying to give him as much time as possible there to see if he can handle it.

That said, if you want to play conspiracy theory, especially after already naming Turang the starter at 2B, it would be easy to see the playing time distribution as them preparing for an Adames trade and then going with Frelick at 3B, Ortiz at SS, and Turang at 2B.

[TURBO]

All the talk of Black being involved has pretty much ended it appears.

Damn, really wanted to see how his bat played at the MLB level, I guess we'll just have to wait.

[Fear The Chorizo]

2 hours ago, TURBO said:

All the talk of Black being involved has pretty much ended it appears.

Damn, really wanted to see how his bat played at the MLB level, I guess we'll just have to wait.

It's more to do with him not yet being on the 40 man roster than being deserving of a shot at the majors, IMO.  Mother of all logjams to start this season, and if Black lights up AAA pitching from jump there really shouldn't be many IF's currently on that 40 man roster who should delay May or June callup.

[RedStickBrew]

46 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

It's more to do with him not yet being on the 40 man roster than being deserving of a shot at the majors, IMO.  Mother of all logjams to start this season, and if Black lights up AAA pitching from jump there really shouldn't be many IF's currently on that 40 man roster who should delay May or June callup.

This sounds about right to me. He only played in AAA at the end of last season and not sure he is ready defensively yet either.  It will be interesting to see where he plays to start the season