The Milwaukee Brewers have more or less locked in their roster for the start of the 2023 campaign. Mlb.com reporter Adam McCalvy reported Luke Voit had been signed to a 1 year contract with a club option for 2024. He also mentioned that once highly touted prospect Keston Hiura has been designated for assignment and infielder Abraham Toro was optioned to Triple A.
The final move he reports is a big one as it tells a bigger story. Star outfield prospect Sal Frelick was reassigned to minor league camp. This means prospects Joey Wiemer (outfield) and Brice Turang (utility) have likely made the club. With Frelick being a much more ready bat, these moves are interesting at face value. However, the Brewers are choosing versatility for the time being.
If Frelick were to be in the lineup every day, that would give the Brewers 3 left handed hitting outfielders. That doesn’t allow for much lineup versatility which opens the door for right handed hitting Wiemer. Also, Turang is likely to be a super utility player. He’s played almost every infield position along with the outfield while being a left handed bat.
When will we see Sal Frelick?
The Brewers want to save as much service time as possible with their prized prospect which means we won’t see him until May at the earliest. The unfortunate part about that is the outfield will likely be healthy by then. Opening day was his best chance to make the roster quickly as Tyrone Taylor is hurt and there isn’t another obvious choice on the team for every day at bats in the outfield outside of Yelich and Mitchell.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens if the offense sputters out of the gates. Frelick was great for Italy in the WBC and continued to hit in spring training. His bat is more than ready for the next level and would without a doubt help this team score runs. Craig Counsell has always preferred to play matchups and switch lineups around but if you have bats good enough to play everyday, he should strongly consider doing it.
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