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

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.