Sal Frelick improving as Brewers are working out a backup plan if he can't play

The Milwaukee Brewers already took a major hit to their outfield depth back when Christian Yelich hit the injured list and ultimately had season ending back surgery that should hopefully have him ready to go for 2025. Then on Friday night, the Brewers outfield took another hit, Sal Frelick while trying to play a ball down the right field line, collided with an open spot in the side wall and injured his hip.

The injury looked pretty bad when it happened and Sal needing a lot of help off the field made fans fear for the worst. After the update came out that Frelick suffered a bone bruise and wouldn't be put on the injured list to keep him available for the wild card round.

Sal Frelick was doing some baserunning during the Brewers workouts at American Family Field while they were awaiting the results of the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves double header to determine who their matchup would be for the wild card round. Sal looked like he was running okay but definitely not full speed, whether that's on purpose or due to some sort of limitation remains to be seen.

Sal Frelick when talking with reporters during the on field workouts on Monday was adamant that he would be ready to go on Tuesday for Game 1 against the now known opponent New York Mets. Frelick also said that it's up to the team now whether or not he's going to play.

What are the Brewers doing to prepare to back up Sal Frelick if he can't play?

First and foremost, the Brewers do still have three outfielders they can trust if Sal Frelick isn't 100 percent. They can keep Jackson Chourio in left field where he's been since Christian Yelich went on the injured list, Blake Perkins can continue to roam center field where he's one of the best defenders in baseball and the Brewers can use Garrett Mitchell in right field. If something should happen to one of those three, the Brewers are then in a really tight spot.

Isaac Collins and Brewer Hicklen both made their debuts late in the season to somewhat underwhelming results, so should anything happen to one of the top three, Sal Frelick is likely put into the game.

The other option comes in the form of Tyler Black. Reported first by Dominic Cotroneo, Tyler Black was working in left field during the team's on field workouts on Monday. It is extremely unlikely that Tyler Black would see much playing time in left field during the playoffs given the fact that he hasn't even had a major league at bat since August 21st.

However, it is better to be prepared and have guys ready in an emergency situation than to have an emergency situation happen and then have to get ready. Tyler Black has played 13 games spanning 106.1 innings in left field in his professional career since being drafted by the Brewers in 2021.

Even if he doesn't see the outfield grass for the Milwaukee Brewers during the wild card round, it is still feasible that he makes the roster as a utility player over Andruw Monasterio or Isaac Collins should the Brewers want another left handed batter in the lineup even though there are already a plethora of them.

That said, going back to even mid-August, Tyler Black has put up better numbers against left handed pitching than Monasterio, so there could still be a case to be made for Black to make the postseason roster. He did make the team in our Wild Card roster projection.

At the AAA level, Tyler Black batted .279 against left handed pitching, Andruw Monasterio batted .189 at the AAA level and .197 at the big league level against left handed pitchers, so the argument can certainly be made for Black to make the postseason roster.

This all goes to say, that if Tyler Black is on the postseason roster, and Sal Frelick is as well, that it doesn't mean that Sal Frelick isn't good to go like he claims. It could simply be that the Milwaukee Brewers are betting on Tyler Black's splits versus left handed pitching and the versatility of more outfield experience than Andruw Monasterio should an emergency arise.