LOS ANGELES -- Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick is headed to the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 strain of his left hamstring, the team announced on Friday. His status was in doubt throughout the All-Star break ahead of Milwaukee’s series opener at Dodger Stadium.
The break came early for the Brewers’ leading hitter when Frelick left Sunday’s game against the Nationals with left hamstring discomfort after making a slick catch in foul ground during the third inning. He underwent an MRI scan following an 8-1 win, and while that provided some clarity -- a Grade 1 strain is the least severe on the scale -- the Brewers were monitoring Frelick's progress over the break before deciding to put him on the IL.
“Just knowing Sal, he’s going to want to return as soon as possible. But we got to be smart,” manager Pat Murphy said on Friday. “He’s a really important part of our club. And yeah, it’s difficult to think about playing without him because he’s such an intricate cog of our club.”
The first sign that Frelick was banged up came in the bottom of the second, when he singled home a run but later stood hunched over with his hands on his knees following a steal of second base. After returning to right field for the top of the third, he charged toward foul ground to make a sliding catch of a Jacob Young popup, but again was hobbled.
“The last week, he was feeling it a little bit and was a little cautious,” Murphy said. “He got treated for it, and then when he slid and it got worse, we recommended he come out of the game. He wouldn’t have taken himself out."
It was an early end to a terrific first half for the 2024 Gold Glove Award winner and 2021 first-round Draft pick, whose move up to the leadoff spot in mid-June coincided with a Brewers surge. He led the Brewers at the break with a .294 average and ranked second to rookie Isaac Collins with a .354 on-base percentage.
Frelick also flashed his skills in the field. Besides the sliding catch that ended his afternoon, he made a nice leaping catch of Daylen Lile’s fly ball to end starter Freddy Peralta’s scoreless second inning.
While he has yet to be cleared for baseball activities, Frelick has been running every day since sustaining the injury, starting with light jogging on Monday and gradually progressing up to 50-60% on Friday.
“The more you can run — which might seem counterintuitive — but the more that you can run and endure some pain, the better the healing process,” Frelick said. “So I’m just going to keep doing that.”
This isn’t the first time Frelick’s gone down with a hamstring injury. He missed two series in 2023 with soreness in his right hamstring.
“Obviously, it’s part of the game. But it sucks,” he said. “... In the grand scheme of things, it sucks, but I think it only being a series or two, you’re able to look at that a little better.”
The Brewers recalled outfielder Blake Perkins from Triple-A Nashville as a corresponding move.