Sal Frelick gives Brewers fans injury scare they can't afford right now

It's been another injury-riddled start to the regular season for the Milwaukee Brewers. After enduring an unprecedented string of injuries to their pitching staff during the first few weeks of the 2025 regular season, the Brewers have now lost two key parts of their offense in the first week of the 2026 campaign.

On Opening Day, just hours before the Brew Crew took the field against the Chicago White Sox, it was announced that star outfielder Jackson Chourio would start the season on the injured list after a hairline fracture in his left hand that he suffered while playing for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic failed to improve throughout the month of March. Just two days later, before the Brewers took the field for their second game of the season, Andrew Vaughn landed on the IL with a broken hamate bone in his left hand that he suffered on Opening Day.

With two of the top five hitters in their batting lineup already on the IL as the calendar reads April 4, the Brewers can't afford to lose another important contributor to their offense. However, on Saturday afternoon, as the Brewers and Kansas City Royals played their second game of MLB's first doubleheader of the 2026 season, an injury scare to one of Milwaukee's lineup regulars had fans holding their breath until an update was provided after the game.

In the fourth inning of last night's game -- Sal Frelick's 13th inning of the day -- the Brewers' right fielder was pulled for a pinch runner after grimacing through a few swings at the plate. In true Frelick fashion, he toughed out the at-bat and singled to left-center field before the Brewers made the decision to pull him from the game.

Left side tightness suggests an oblique injury, which oftentimes leads to several weeks on the injured list, was in play. Thankfully, however, both Frelick and manager Pat Murphy made clear after the game that the injury is nothing to worry about.

Sal Frelick exits Saturday's evening contest with tightness in his left side, Brewers don't believe it's anything serious

The Brewers suffered their second loss of the season in Frelick's absence, falling by a score of 8-2 in the second game of yesterday's doubleheader. After the game, however, much of the attention was on the state of the Brewers' talented young outfielder, who seemingly had no concerns about the injury scare. Frelick himself told Brewers' beat reporter Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was fine to remain in yesterday's game.

In addition to Rosiak's report, Robert Falkoff of MLB.com collected quotes from Murphy and Frelick that are bound to ease Brewers fans' nerves. According to Falkoff, after the game, Murphy said, "We were worried it was an oblique, and Sal is so competitive that he’s not going to take himself out, so we had to force him out. In testing, he was fine.” Sal himself reiterated the sentiment that there's nothing to worry about by saying, "I think just sitting around after the first game and going on to the second game, it tightened up a little. I was trying to stay in.” Be sure to check out Falkoff's full column on yesterday's injury scare, which is available to read over at MLB.com and linked below for your convenience.

Frelick (left side tightness) expected to be fine after early exit

It's excellent news for the Brewers, who can ill-afford to lose Frelick amid their wave of early-season injuries to their position player group. That said, expect the Brewers to be careful with their right fielder, who has been known to try to play through injuries in seasons past, which means more opportunities for Brandon Lockridge and Blake Perkins in the outfield.