Brewers Announce Glass-Half-Full Sal Frelick Injury Update

Lots of Major League Baseball players fight through nagging injuries in a given season, and that seemed to be the case last year for Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick.

That Frelick had what amounted to a career year thus far while dealing with lingering left knee pain was all the more impressive. Frelick boosted his OPS+ from 84 in 2024 to 111 last year, hitting 12 home runs after only having two the year before.

Frelick recently opted not to play for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, despite doing so in 2023 before his major league debut. And it became clear on Wednesday that Frelick chose that path because he really did finish last season quite banged up.

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Frelick's knee something to monitor as season goes along

Oct 17, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick (10) reacts after an apparent injury against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning during game four of the NLCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

According to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, Frelick's knee pain, which dates back to a torn meniscus suffered in college, manifested in an MRI at the end of the season that looked worse than Frelick and the team's doctors anticipated.

"Multiple surgeons have told him they could do a repair, but it would require a four- to five-month recovery, and because he’s mostly asymptomatic, they have advised against that route," wrote McCalvy.

In addition to having the go-ahead to keep playing through it from the medical staff, Frelick also has the full backing and confidence of his manager, Pat Murphy.

“He still played good with it, and he’ll manage it if it comes up again. We’re hoping it doesn’t,” Murphy said, per McCalvy. “I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about Sal in any walk of life, you know? He’s going to be OK.”

Whether Frelick is feeling any ill effects from that knee throughout the season will be a storyline to monitor, if only because it seemed last year as though Frelick was truly growing into the player the Brewers envisioned he'd be when they took him with their first-round pick in 2021.

And does Frelick have an extra gear to his offensive game? He made the wise choice to concentrate on his body this winter instead of representing Team Italy to maximize the odds of proving that he does.

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