Brewers Announce Sal Frelick News After Leaving Royals Game

It's a troubling development for the Brewers, who already have multiple key players absent this spring as Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn are both on the injured list. The Brewers recently acquired outfielder Luis Matos from the San Francisco Giants to help fill out their depleted outfield, but Frelick's injury could stretch that depth even further if he has to miss time.

While "left side tightness" is a bit vague, that kind of language is often used to describe an oblique strain. The severity of an oblique strain can vary wildly, but even in minor cases, players typically miss at least two weeks before returning to the field.

Most likely, the Brewers are still waiting from results on imaging before they can definitively say what is ailing Frelick. But it seems likely that he will miss some time.

Frelick, 25, is coming off of the best season in his young career. In 142 games, the left-handed hitting outfielder hit 12 home runs, swiped 19 bases and bat .288 with a .756 OPS all while playing excellent defense out in right field.

Per Fangraphs Outs Above Average (OAA), which measures how many more outs a player records above the average at their position, Frelick was the third-best defensive right fielder in the National League last season, trailing only the Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll and the San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr.

If Frelick does have to miss time on the injured list, outfielders Blake Perkins, Brandon Lockridge and Luis Matos will all see increased time in the field. Perkins is the only one who can hit from the left side, however, and the Brewers don't have any left-handed hitting outfielders in the minors who are currently on their 40-man roster.

Point being, if Frelick's injury puts him on the injured list, the Brewers may need to add someone to their 40-man roster to supplement a lack of left-handed offense. Alternatively, they could also call catcher Jeferson Quero back up, allowing Gary Sanchez and William Contreras split time at first base, and then they could move current first baseman Jake Bauers back into the outfield. But that's a lot of moving parts.

The simplest solution, of course, would simply be to play Christian Yelich in right field. The Brewers seem intent on keeping him in the designated hitter slot, but this latest injury could test that.