Biography
Salvatore Michael Frelick (born April 19, 2000) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. He played college baseball for the Boston College Eagles. The Brewers selected Frelick in the first round, with the 15th overall selection, of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.
Amateur career
Frelick grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts and attended Lexington High School, where he played football, hockey and baseball. He was the starting quarterback at Lexington High and was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year as a senior after passing for 30 touchdowns. He committed to play college baseball at Boston College, where he was also offered a football scholarship.
As a freshman at Boston College, Frelick was named Second Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and to the ACC All-Freshman Team after batting .367 with four home runs, 32 RBIs, 30 runs scored and 18 stolen bases. He batted .241 with 17 runs scored and seven stolen bases in 15 games before his sophomore season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a junior, Frelick batted .359 with a .443 on-base percentage, six home runs, 27 RBIs, and 17 doubles and was named first team All-ACC and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Professional career
The Milwaukee Brewers selected Frelick in the first round, with the 15th overall selection, of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Brewers on July 20, 2021, for a $4 million signing bonus.
Frelick was assigned to the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Brewers to start his professional career, where he had seven hits over 15 at bats with four runs scored, four RBIs, and three stolen bases in four games before being promoted to the Low-A Carolina Mudcats. He was promoted again to the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers after batting .437 with 31 hits and one home run in 16 games played in Carolina. He ended the season with Wisconsin batting .167 over 15 games. Frelick began the 2022 season with Wisconsin, where he batted .291 in 21 games before being promoted to the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers. He batted .317 with five home runs, 25 RBIs, and 40 runs scored in 52 games with the Shuckers before being promoted a second time to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.
Frelick began the 2023 season with Nashville. Following a shoulder injury to Garrett Mitchell, Frelick was expected to have a clearer path to make his Major League debut. However, Frelick suffered a thumb sprain shortly thereafter, and was ruled out for 6-to-8 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb on April 25. Once he returned, he played in 40 games for Nashville, hitting .247/.333/.342 with 2 home runs, 18 RBI, and 8 stolen bases.
On July 22, 2023, Frelick was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Frelick made a sensational major-league debut that same day, to help Brewers beat the Atlanta Braves. On offense he hit safely in each of his first three-at bats, including a run-scoring hit to tie the game in the sixth inning. Frelick made multiple acrobatic catches in right field on defense and finally drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth. Frelick nailed his first career homer on July 24, with a game-tying blast to right field in the 6th inning off of Cincinnati Reds starter Graham Ashcraft.
In 2024, he batted .259/.320/.335 with two home runs and 32 RBIs in 475 at bats. His average exit velocity of 83.4 mph was the lowest in MLB, his 23.8% softly hit balls were the highest percentage among all MLB batters, and his 18.5% hard hit balls were the lowest percentage among MLB batters, and his .07% barrel percentage was the lowest in MLB. However, Frelick was an exceptional defender in right field, leading all National League outfielders with 15 Defensive Runs Saved, and was awarded the 2024 Rawlings Golden Glove Award for his position.
Personal life
Frelick is an amateur poet and has participated in readings with other former MLB players and poets including Tom Hume.
International career
Frelick played for the Italy national baseball team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.