Dynasty Dive: Make Sal Your Pal

Sal Frelick is going to be a star, to be quite Frank. More Frank than a Barrone waiting for linguini alfredo at the dinner table. The Milwaukee Brewers rookie has quickly made an impact at the big league level, but there’s planty of reason to believe the best is yet to come, as is often the case with young players. Here at Razzball, we’ve given you plenty of opportunities for free licks at Frelick, which you can read more about below. So if you don’t have any shares yet, it’s time to self-reflect, or Salf-refleckt. Here’s why you need to be holding your shares or scrambling for additional ownership of my pal, Sal, in dynasty leagues moving forward.

This preseason, I listed Frelick as my top college prospect primed to break out in 2023 (yes, as a rookie).

In my top 100 for the 2021 MLB Draft, I ranked Frelick third overall.

Earlier that May, I explained in detail why Frelick was my top collegiate position player in that draft.

And back in May 2020, I dug deeper into Frelick than John Angelos at his own funeral.

Safe to say, if you’re a religious Razzball reader who plays dynasty and doesn’t have any Frelick shares, then you haven’t been paying attention. Or maybe you think The Itch has the keys to the prospect universe, while Hobbs is less intelligent than your average mayfly. This is beginning to sound too much like a phone call with my in-laws.

In that piece I wrote three-plus years ago in May 2020, I wrote: “Truthfully, I think Frelick’s ceiling is a top three college player in the 2021-2022 draft classes. I can see the potential for 25-25 production in him in the Bigs. Hey, if I never went out on a limb, why would you keep reading? Funny thing about the metaphor of going out on a limb: if you’re wrong, the branch snaps and you fall to your death – but what happens in that metaphor when you’re right?”

So, I’m still sitting on this branch. And since 2020, I’ve gained about 20 pounds, so it’s sagging to the point where I may not even incur injury if the twig were to snap. I was so high on Frelick, that I said he could be a top three overall player from the 2021-22 classes combined. The fun thing about ceilings is you can say just about anything. “Your ceiling sucks, it needs another fan.” Not very insulting, to be quite honest. But I wanted to point out that quote in particular because the purpose of today’s article is to illustrate why Frelick is going to be a five-category fantasy star in redraft and dynasty leagues alike across the next half-decade.

After being drafted 15th overall in 2021 by the Milwaukee Brewers, Frelick was already a sleeper in first-year player drafts. He went on to play parts of three seasons in the minors before debuting this year, hitting .314/.393/.451, right in line with his .311/.388/.432 line in 86 Triple-A games. Frelick had an 11.7 K% and 10.3 BB% in the minors.

Through 23 big league games with Milwaukee, Frelick has walked 16 times and struck out 14 in 88 plate appearances. Although he’s hitting just .235, he’s reaching at a 42.7% clip and slugging .427. That equates to 20% above league-average production. And we haven’t even seen the best of the power and legs yet.

My pal, Sal, stole 44 bags in 58 attempts over 197 minor league games. He swiped 38 in 46 career college attempts. Although he’s a mere 2-for-2 thus far in the bigs, there’s more in the tank. And while that isn’t necessarily going to provide you with a buy-low window in dynasty formats, it is one of several reasons why Sal’s best is yet to come in roto and categories. That, and the hands:

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1683658965337481218

As for the power? There’s a lot of Christian Yelich in Frelick. I see 25-25 potential in him, as he profiles as a hitter who should be able to fight for .300 in the prime of his career. But there are no reservations in my mind about the power. Truthfully, I see a 15-15 floor, which I’ll take given his complete fantasy profile any day of the week other than Shmunday. It was actually my favorite part of Frelick’s tool package when I first wrote about him three-plus years ago:

Still, what I love most is Frelick’s swing from the left side of the plate. I watched a lot of his tape, and the swing is incredibly efficient and level, and the bat travels straight to the hitting zone and stays long through. On one of his four homers as a freshman, he was clearly beat on a fastball and he still managed to deposit it just over the left field fence. If you watch this highlight tape and fast-forward to the 0:41 mark, you will see an absolutely gorgeous home run off Frelick’s bat to the pull side. You always have to take highlights with a grain of salt because you’re only seeing the good and not the bad or ugly, but the quick hands and weight transfer on that swing present the image of a future star. And not the Lady Gaga-loving-Bradley Cooper type, although I do find Bradley’s eyes to be incredibly dreamy. *Stares at window. Three hours pass. Returns to work.*

I feel much of the same way now. And watching Frelick work a full count and foul off pitches from Zack Wheeler last night, like he has to many veteran hurlers in his short MLB cameo, only reinforced those feelings of grandeur. Along with his .235/.375/.427 slash line, Frelick owns three homers, four doubles, 16 runs, 16 RBI, an 18.2 BB% and  15.9 K% in 23 games. Even though it’s far from what we might see next year, or in 2025, that prorates to