“Keston Hiura, Tyrone Taylor, Christian Yelich…Every other bat the Brewers have ruined has nothing to do with Sal Frelick…” is what I chant to myself while surrounded by candles in a meditation room. Yelich had his own ground ball issues; Tyrone Taylor was never supposed to be that good, he only got hyped in the fantasy baseball community; Keston Hiura sucked, but maybe he was overrated by scouts and always kinda sucked, or maybe his batting stance got out of alignment or maybe or maybe or maybe! None of these guys have anything to do with Sal Frelick, and I need to stop trying to put that garbage on this guy. Let’s see what Itch said, “The 15th overall pick out of Boston College possesses double-plus bat control and contact abilities that should let the rest of his game flourish as Sal Frelick climbs the ladder, and someone push Grey off a ladder.” C’mon, man! Itch also said a lot of other stuff on Sal Frelick, that was, honestly, only a fraction of what was said about Frelick. Prospect Itch and Prospect Hobbs have covered Frelick a great deal; they are both very big fans. You can get a good 1000 words on Sal Frelick from Hobbs when Frelick was merely a guy in the 2021 MLB draft. It’s worth the read. So, what can we expect from Sal Frelick for 2023 fantasy baseball?
I watched 15 seconds of Sal Frelick and I was like, “Oh, he’s Steven Kwan.”
Sal Frelick RBI double. He’s still good. pic.twitter.com/Njkw862BMv
— Spencer Michaelis (@smichaelis234) September 28, 2022
Hey, I like Steven Kwan, so giddy up:
Sal Frelick has hits in his last five, and RBI in his last three following a run-scoring single to center in the fifth.
Tonight is Frelick’s third three-hit performance in his last four games. pic.twitter.com/Q0N6E6K0Al
— Carolina Mudcats (@CarolinaMudcats) August 18, 2021
Here’s the power, if you can call it that:
Not once but twice!??
Sal Frelick launched his 1st and 2nd Triple-A homers last night, extending his on-base streak to 31 games#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/ES6fMQHjbm
— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) September 15, 2022
He’s a .330 hitting, 30+ steal swiping, maybe-10-homer-hitting, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin’ and dealin’ son of a gun! And that all plays for me. I actually found one highlight of him striking out. I don’t say that to be like, “Damn, this guy’s contact is a mess.” Oh, no. The opposite. I think someone put Sal Frelick striking out on the interwebs, because it’s such a rare thing to witness, they wanted others to see what it looked like. Like a video of Sasquatch, or a Nick Cannon girlfriend not being pregnant. These things are so rare you have to make notice when you can.
Just the facts, ma’am: At age 22, Sal Frelick was promoted three stops this year, ending the year at Triple-A, where he went 4/9 and .365/.435/.508 in 189 ABs. He had a 7.4% strikeout rate with a 8.8% walk rate. Ha, that’s goofy. A higher walk rate than a strikeout rate is basically the universe saying, “If you have an OBP league that is drafting early or it’s deep, you have to take a flyer on Sal Frelick.” Sorry, but “have to.” Yes. There’s no maybes or we’ll sees. Brewers’ outfield has Yelich, Renfroe and a wild card. Could Frelick slot right in out of Spring Training? I believe so, but they have Tyrone Taylor, Garrett Mitchell, and Esteury Ruiz. Maybe Renfroe goes to DH, and that opens two spots, and, yes, I’m still toying with an Esteury Ruiz fantasy rookie post too. So, does Frelick break camp? Maybe. Is he called up by June? At the latest, I would think. If Frelick breaks camp, he’s on the Rookie of the Year radar with Corbin Carroll, and Jordan Walker, and I could see him easily being worthwhile in shallowest of leagues, and sneaking into the top 40 outfielders. Because of his insane bat control, he feels safer than most. For 2023, I’ll give Sal Frelick projections of 48/6/38/.287/16 in 309 ABs with a chance for more, depending on when he’s promoted.
