Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick will bear an MRI in the present day after he left Friday’s sport with a left hip damage. Whereas chasing a foul ball within the third inning of Milwaukee’s 8-4 win over the Mets, Frelick slammed into the wall down the appropriate discipline line, particularly touchdown inside a cutout space of the in any other case padded wall. Frelick was in a whole lot of discomfort as he gingerly left the sector.
X-rays on Frelick’s hip “had been inconclusive,” Brewers supervisor Pat Murphy advised reporters (together with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) following the sport. An MRI has been scheduled for this morning to find out the extent of Frelick’s damage, or what his standing may very well be because the Brewers put together for the beginning of the NL wild card sequence on Tuesday.
The fifteenth general decide of the 2021 draft, Frelick made his MLB debut final season and moved into an on a regular basis position this yr, primarily because the Brewers’ common proper fielder. Frelick has additionally logged 184 innings in left discipline and 168 innings in middle, however his 776 innings in proper discipline have cemented him as one of many higher defensive outfielders in all of baseball. Irrespective of the metric, Frelick’s work in proper discipline has been lauded by Defensive Runs Saved (+16), UZR/150 (16.6) and Outs Above Common (+6).
This glorious glovework has stored Frelick within the lineup regardless of an absence of manufacturing on the plate. Whereas Frelick makes a whole lot of contact, he’s close to the underside of the league in onerous contact and barrel charge, and he has solely an 86 wRC+ from a slash line of .259/.320/.335 over 524 plate appearances. Stealing 18 bases in 21 makes an attempt has boosted Frelick’s offensive worth to some extent, and naturally it isn’t uncommon for a second-year participant to wrestle in his first prolonged have a look at huge league pitching.
Milwaukee claimed the NL Central title even with out one main power of their outfield, as Christian Yelich underwent season-ending again surgical procedure in August. Star rookie Jackson Chourio has settled right into a groove because the on a regular basis left fielder, so if Frelick is unavailable for the NLWCS, the likeliest state of affairs would see Chourio in left discipline, Blake Perkins in middle, and Garrett Mitchell in proper. Jake Bauers and utilitymen Andruw Monasterio and Isaac Collins present some additional depth, plus the likes of Brewer Hicklen or Vinny Capra may very well be known as up from the minors.