Sal Frelick Says He's in the Best Shape of His Life. Is That a Good Thing?

[Jake McKibbin]

The diminutive former first-round pick had trouble keeping weight on his frame during his first full season in MLB. Can his rebuilt physique better withstand the grind?

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sal Frelick finished last season at just 167 pounds. It’s completely normal for players' weights to decrease throughout a season (due to fluid loss, dietary variations, their movement within games and other factors), but that seems incredibly light for someone of his build. If we rely on the numbers on Baseball Reference (which comes with some margin of error, naturally, but is usually quite accurate for Brewers players), that would mean Frelick lost 15 pounds during the 2024 campaign.

According to the MLB.com article about Frelick's hoped-for transformation from Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy, the young outfielder put on 25 pounds of muscle over the offseason. Respectfully: poppycock. At the zenith of his boosting, Barry Bonds would have struggled to make that much headway in four months. A clean 25 pounds of muscle mass alone isn't humanly possible without illegal support, but it's far more likely that fluid loss contributed a lot to Frelick’s low weight at the end of 2024. Replenishing that, plus about 10 pounds of quality weight, is a much more achievable and realistic outcome for a professional athlete with an intense offseason regimen.

That still leaves the mystery and vexation of the in-season weight loss to combat. A professional baseball player will have a high level of activity virtually every day, which means that maintaining weight requires strong intakes of calories and fluids. This could involve consuming 4,000 or more calories per day depending on body type and size, which isn’t easy—and might not be comfortable, given the aforementioned level of activity and the schedule ballplayers have to keep. It's even more daunting if you're aiming for nutrient-dense, clean foods to reach that goal. Frelick didn't even make a habit out of eating breakfast most days.

The effect was obvious, and Frelick admitted it to McCalvy. Down the stretch, his body felt tired, an issue for someone who plays with the verve that defines the best of his game. His outfield coverage and moves on the basepaths would have slowed enough to make a difference. Indeed, he only stole four bases from Aug. 1 onward, though part of that was because he slumped to a .273 OBP over that stretch. We can also see it in his bat speed, which declined each month:

On top of this, Frelick's hard-hit rate (over a rolling average of 50 balls in play) didn't top 20% in the last two months of the season. We should expect some sag within a season, but having it do so to this extent creates a clear issue—one he'll need to address in the coming season.

The added weight isn’t going to bring Frelick to a league-average exit velocity on its own. It probably won’t impact his initial base rate much at all, without some more aggressive swing decisions. What it will do is allow him to be more durable as the grind of the season accumulates, but he has to be more disciplined with his water and nutritional intake. For a player who already doesn't drive the ball all that often, Frelick needs to tap into every little bit of help he can coming into 2025.

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What do you think of Sal Frelick’s comments? Did they give you cause for concern or optimism? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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[rafa]

Jack McKibbin ....thank you!  Absolutely poppycock is right.  Good that Frelick is in great shape and put on some muscle mass but 25 pounds is an absolute joke!

I'm at Am Fam stadium a LOT - and have seen Frelick very often, if he put on 25lbs he'd be in the low 200's. Probably more like 15 pounds is what he gained.

Sorry Adam McCalvy, you might be a Brewer insider and I'll go with 95% of what you say ....but not this 5%. 

[wiguy94]

18 minutes ago, rafa said:

Jack McKibbin ....thank you!  Absolutely poppycock is right.  Good that Frelick is in great shape and put on some muscle mass but 25 pounds is an absolute joke!

I'm at Am Fam stadium a LOT - and have seen Frelick very often, if he put on 25lbs he'd be in the low 200's. Probably more like 15 pounds is what he gained.

Sorry Adam McCalvy, you might be a Brewer insider and I'll go with 95% of what you say ....but not this 5%. 

You misread what Jake said. Jake is disputing that Frelick put on 25 pounds of muscle not that Frelick put on 25 pounds.

[jesusoftheapes]

If Sal put on 25 lbs of beef so be it . Sounds impossible though.    Progression is a real thing happening in live time with this young group so those skeptical of any positive change should be quite right now and see what happens .  If a player is one thing or another from this group I believe we should all accept that this is by design as the Brewers are telling the players what they want from them in an offseason.      So just let things be as they are and the players we currently have should shape up nicely . Best i can say. 

[Brian]

12 hours ago, rafa said:

Jack McKibbin ....thank you!  Absolutely poppycock is right.  Good that Frelick is in great shape and put on some muscle mass but 25 pounds is an absolute joke!

I'm at Am Fam stadium a LOT - and have seen Frelick very often, if he put on 25lbs he'd be in the low 200's. Probably more like 15 pounds is what he gained.

Sorry Adam McCalvy, you might be a Brewer insider and I'll go with 95% of what you say ....but not this 5%. 

Sal Frelick lost 15 pounds during the 2024 campaign.  So really he is +10 pounds from last spring training and that is feasible IMHO.  He must be a guy who has trouble eating during the summer heat.