Sal Frelick's Defensive Brilliance, and the Brewers' Looming Dilemma

[Matthew Trueblood]

The Brewers' supernal right fielder might have been better than you even realized—but the pressure to have him play in the dirt is going to rise, anyway.

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

The temptation, of course, is to leave well enough alone. When you have a defender as adept as Sal Frelick has proved to be over the course of his young career, you don't mess with it. You leave the guy at the spot, and you let the rest of the roster and its problems resolve themselves as they will. That's why plenty of fans scoffed when rumors of Frelick moving to third base surfaced last offseason, and in the end, they were right—at least for one year.

Frelick truly is a marvelous right fielder, too. The plays you tended to notice most, last year, were the ones he made going back on the ball, whether in right field or during his occasional games in center. Though small, Frelick goes into the wall like the ex-hockey player he is, not recklessly, but fearlessly, and his most widely-disseminated highlights were plays on which he got back to the barrier and took away extra-base hits. For one fleeting moment, before the scope of the calamity became unavoidably clear, this reporter hoped that Pete Alonso's game-winning home run in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series last fall was going to end up just above the wall, but just within the reach of Frelick.

In truth, though, he was just as good—maybe better—coming in on the ball. That's remarkable, and underscores his value in that spot. Statcast rates Frelick, believe it or not, as average (0 Outs Above Average) on balls on which he had to go back in 2024, but credits him with 6 OAA on balls he had to come in for. Sports Info Solutions's Defensive Runs Saved breaks things down (subtly) differently, into Shallow, Medium, and Deep balls, but comes to a similar conclusion: Frelick was 6 plays better than average on shallow balls, 1 play better on medium-depth ones, and 5 plays better on deep balls.

Frelick's breaks on line drives that force him to commit quickly, cover ground and dive forward are superb.

That ball had some air under it, but even on lower liners, he was good at drawing a bead and making a straight line to the ball. He also showed the same fearlessness going toward the sidewall that he did when going all the way back to the fences.

The variety of ways in which he makes great plays in the outfield makes Frelick versatile and excellent, and it makes any notion of moving him out of that role harder to grapple with.

On the other hand, sometimes, you have to make decisions about where to deploy players based on team needs, not just their own strengths. The Dodgers do this often, not only now (hello, starting shortstop Mookie Betts) but throughout their team's history. The Brewers have an extraordinarily deep and promising collection of outfielders, especially if you believe that they'll want to make some room in the grass for Christian Yelich. Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell have star-caliber upside not even Frelick can match, and Blake Perkins is the best defensive outfielder on the roster. Then, there is Tyler Black—best-suited, be it for the Brewers or not, as an outfielder—and Luis Lara, another rising prospect who could debut in 2025.

Meanwhile, at third base, the team is staring down the barrel of a timeshare between Oliver Dunn and Caleb Durbin. Those two each have tools that make them compelling possibilities at that spot, but neither is a sure thing. Frelick played so well in the outfield that bringing him back to second or third base seems far-fetched, but in one sense, it's the clear choice. He would improve their situation at those positions much more than his removal would worsen their array of options in right and center fields.

It will be fascinating to see whether Frelick comes to spring training ready to try again as an infielder. He might best help the team that way, and his low-power offensive skill set might best profile there, too. While his glovework would be missed in the outfield, the depth of his toolbox out there suggests that he might be a better defender on the dirt than his raw tools would imply. Barring further additions, having him at least prepare to move between the two defensive jobs carries considerable appeal.

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[sveumrules]

23 minutes ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

and Luis Lara, another rising prospect who could debut in 2025.

I’m not sure Lara is really rising. He put up a 95 wRC+ in Wisco last year and fell from #8 on the BF Top 20 entering the season down to #20 in the most recent iteration.

To debut in 2025 would take at least three season ending injuries to current OFers and a huge uptick in performance from Luis at the plate.

The glove might be MLB calibre now, but the bat looks to be at least a couple years away.

[Samurai Bucky]

My fear is Frelick gets moved to third-base, performs defensively like Ryan Braun did, then the discussion will be related to not having enough room for him in the outfield.  There will be more frustration as well because Frelick doesn't mash homers like Braun did.

Wouldn't it be great if the Brewers could take some of that outfield capital and trade for a good third baseman?  Another alternative would be to trade that capital for a good shortstop?

[igor67]

If Frelick could play 3rd like he plays RF that would solve a lot of things...

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Samurai Bucky]

1 hour ago, Jim Goulart said:

 

Even more important -- he already knew what a bubbler was!!!!! 😉

[gregmag]

“He would improve their situation at those positions much more than his removal would worsen their array of options in right and center fields.”

 

Would he, though?  Do we have any reason to think he can play 3b well?  Why do we think he would outhit Durbin / Dunn?  I’m not saying I know he can’t do these things; I’m just saying I don’t see much evidence that he can.  It feels like a total crapshoot.