Sal Frelick appears to be practicing only at second and third base for the time being in order to be prepared in the event of an emergency. The story in The Athletic that reported Frelick’s offseason project included praise for his progress from Dustin Pedroia (himself an undersized player who ended up right on the fringe of Hall of Fame status after a career spent at second base), and it noted the first-round pick’s track record as a middle infielder in high school and collegiate summer leagues, but it stopped well short of suggesting that Frelick will take over for Brice Turang or join the free-for-all
Let’s bring this starting closer to its natural conclusion. Frelick taking grounders suggests that the player and the club believe he will eventually be able to man one of the infield positions on a consistent basis. This work has appeared quite frequently, and only recently. Mookie Betts is the most well-known example, but other players have made similar changes in recent years. The Cardinals transformed Allen Craig and Matt Carpenter from corner outfielders to passable second basemen–and, in Carpenter’s case, third basemen.
If Frelick makes the same shift, it will do more than clarify a situation in which the Brewers are now extremely unclear. It will also provide an opportunity for the organization to add one of the available hitters who can still contribute in the middle of a contender’s batting order. Rhys Hoskins provided the Brewers with stability and power at first base, but while the DH position appears to be locked up in a scenario in which Frelick plays the outfield–with the team’s five likely outfielders (Frelick, Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Joey Wiemer, and Garrett Mitchell) and catchers William Contreras and Gary Sánchez rotating through–it is much more fluid if Frelick plays second or third base.
Determining the Brewers’ projected payroll and remaining spending capacity has been a tricky task all winter. The Hoskins signing and the Corbin Burnes deal alone appear to contradict one another if one attempts to establish a coherent narrative or framework for their approach to 2024. Assuming the organization has anything serious left to spend, there are a few hitters out there who could fill in at first base or outfield in an emergency, significantly increasing the squad’s offensive ceiling.
The most notable of these are Brandon Belt and J.D. Martinez. Belt, who will be 36 in April, is a patient and powerful player whose left-handed bat would add balance and depth to the team’s lineup. He’s no longer much of a first baseman defensively, but he can fill in if Hoskins is injured, and in the interim, he plans to annihilate right-handed pitchers, as he has his entire career. With Sánchez or Contreras spelling him against lefties, he’d be a catalyst in the lineup.
Martinez, who is around eight months older than Belt, had significant strikeout issues with the Dodgers last year, as did Belt with the Blue Jays. Like Belt, he would provide one of the best fly-ball, pull-power bats of his generation to a team that is still a little short on them. He’s not as versatile as Belt and should only be thrown out to the outfield in dire emergencies, but his bat would transform the Crew’s offense into the most formidable in the NL Central.
