On Wednesday evening the Brewers hosted a fan event called Hot Stove & Cold Brews at Dugout 54 in Milwaukee. This gave fans the opportunity to interact with players, manager Craig Counsell, and leader of baseball operations Matt Arnold. In one interview, Sal Frelick revealed what level he expects to start the 2023 season off in.
According to Curt Hogg, Brewers reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sal Frelick expects to start 2023 in Triple-A Nashville.
“I would like to say start off in Triple-A and if I play well I’d like to get a call (to the majors) at some point.”
Frelick tore up Triple-A Nashville in 2022 and he ended the year with a 41 game on-base streak. His overall numbers at that level consisted of a .365/.435/.408 slash. He played 46 games with the Sounds, drove in 25 batters, and had nine stolen bases.
Last year, many expected that Frelick would get promoted to the Brewers in September. Given his performance in Triple-A, it’s not hard to figure out why. However, Garrett Mitchell ended up getting the call instead.
In Hogg’s article, he goes onto reveal more quotes from Frelick.
“I think my job, especially offensively is getting on base. That means not striking out. That’s kind of what I’ve been working for since I was in high school: just put the ball in play, especially with two strikes. Now that I’m getting to the higher levels, there’s more of an emphasis on hitter’s counts and still driving the ball, not just slapping it. But i still want to make sure with two strikes I’m doing my job and not striking out.”
Frelick mentions getting on base and not striking out. At the plate, he is a contact oriented hitter. This is evidenced by striking out just 16 times in 189 at-bats (7.4%) at the Triple-A level last year. No matter what level he starts and plays at next year, it will be interesting to see if he can keep that strikeout percentage low again.
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