Sal Frelick

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Salvatore Michael Frelick

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Biographical Information[edit]

Sal Frelick was a first-round draft pick in the 2021 amateur draft and played for the Italian national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic before making his big league debut later that year.

Frelick was two-time league MVP in high school in football and once in baseball, winning Gatorade Player of the Year for football in Massachusetts. He also was the school's captain in hockey. [1] As a college freshman, he hit .367/.447/.513 with 32 RBI in 39 games, stealing 18 bases in 21 tries. He was second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference and was Freshman All-American. [2] He was at .241/.380/.414 after 15 games in 2020 when the season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Returning for his junior year, he batted .359/.443/.559 with 17 doubles, 50 runs and 27 walks in 48 games. He was All-ACC and was named the Conference Defensive Player of the Year. [3]

The Milwaukee Brewers took him 15th overall in the 2021 amateur draft, the third collegiate position player taken after Henry Davis and Colton Cowser. The scout was Ty Blankmeyer. [4] He split his first pro summer between the ACL Brewers Gold (7 for 15, 2 BB, 2B, 3B, 3 SB, 4 R, 4 RBI in 4 G), Carolina Mudcats (.437/.494/.592, 17 R in 16 G) and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (.167/.296/.267 in 15 G) for a 880 OPS overall. Baseball America rated him Milwaukee's #3 prospect (after Brice Turang and Aaron Ashby) and named him the best athlete and best hitter for average in the system. [5] He was dominant in 2022 with Wisconsin (.291/.391/.456 in 21 G), the Biloxi Shuckers (.317/.380/.464 in 52 G) and Nashville Sounds (.365/.435/.508 in 46 G), his numbers improving with each level up. He scored 90 runs, hit 28 doubles and drew 52 walks while posting a 883 OPS. He was among the Brewers system leaders in runs (1st, one ahead of Turang), hits (163, 1st, 11 ahead of Turang), doubles (6th), triples (2nd, 2 behind Tristan Peters), RBI (tied Pablo Reyes for 10th), steals (24, 5th) and average (.331; Peters at .306 was next among players with 300+ AB). Entering 2023, he was rated as the 30th-best prospect in baseball by MLB.com, 34th by Baseball America and 41st by Baseball Prospectus.

He has Italian roots on both sides of his family and made the Italian national team roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He hit .304/.333/.435 with three runs, three doubles and four RBI in five games. He led Italy in doubles. [6] He made his major league debut with the Brewers on July 22, 2023, starting in right field against the Atlanta Braves. He had a great first game, going 3 for 3 with a run scored and two RBIs in a 4-3 win. He would likely have been called up earlier, but injured his thumb while playing for Nashville on April 18th and missed six weeks of action as a result. He was hitting .247 in 40 games, with 2 homers, when called up to Milwaukee. He hit his first major league homer on July 24th, off Graham Ashcraft of the Cincinnati Reds, by which time the three family members who had witnessed his debut had grown to a party of 18 friends and relatives. On September 10th, he made a sensational catch in right field that could have put his name into team lore forever given the circumstances. Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams and Abner Uribe had managed to keep the New York Yankees hitless into the 10th inning at New Yankee Stadium when with two outs and a man on, Anthony Volpe hit a long drive to the fence. Frelick and CF Joey Wiemer both converged on the ball at full speed and the two collided violently, but Frelick managed to hang on to the ball, ending the inning and preserving the no-hitter and the scoreless tie for a bit longer. The Yankees finally got a hit off Joel Payamps with one out in the 11th and eventually won the game, 4-3, in 13 innings.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ Boston College bio
  2. ↑ ibid.
  3. ↑ 2022 Brewers Media Guide, pg. 220
  4. ↑ ibid.
  5. ↑ ibid.
  6. ↑ MLB.com

Further Reading[edit]

  • Adam McCalvy: "He does it all! Frelick hits, leaps and shows off speed in debut", mlb.com, July 22, 2023. [1]
  • Adam McCalvy: "Frelick's MLB debut was a family affair", mlb.com, July 25, 2023. [2]
  • Adam McCalvy: "Frelick's unreal wall-crashing gem keeps no-no alive -- for a bit", mlb.com, September 10, 2023. [Frelick's unreal wall-crashing gem keeps no-no alive -- for a bit]
  • Adam McCalvy: "The time Frelick saved a stray dog", mlb.com, September 7, 2024. [3]

Related Sites[edit]

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