Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick suffered avoided looked like a scary injury Friday night in Milwaukee. Pursuing a foul ball off the bat of Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez — who eventually walked — Frelick slammed his left hip into the right field wall and collapsed in pain on impact. He underwent imaging on Saturday that revealed a bone bruise.
The Brewers are not expected to place him on the injured list, according to MLB’s Adam McCalvy. Doing so would prevent him from participating in the postseason prior to the League Championship Series, as his activation date would fall after the cutoff for both the wild-card and divisional round rosters. The Brewers, who will not finish the season as one of the top two seeds in the National League, will instead hope that Frelick will be ready for action by the time Tuesday rolls around.
After hitting the wall, Frelick limped off the field and then needed assistance in the dugout getting down the steps on his way to the clubhouse.
The 24-year-old Frelick has become an everyday player for the Brewers this season, his second in the majors. As of Friday, he’s hitting .259/.320/.335 with 22 doubles, four triples, two homers, 32 RBI, 66 runs, 18 stolen bases and 2.0 WAR this season.
Remember, the Brewers are already down an outfielder as superstar Christian Yelich was lost for the season back in July. Should Frelick miss time moving toward the playoffs, and Murphy seemed to indicate he will, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins look like their three outfielders.
The Brewers have already clinched the NL Central and will be the No. 3 seed on the NL side in the playoffs, meaning they’ll host the No. 6 seed in the Wild Card Series starting on Tuesday.