The Milwaukee Brewers announced that Sal Frelick is going on a rehab assignment, but it'll be a lengthy one.
The Milwaukee Brewers announced a trio of roster moves on Saturday, Aug. 8, and one of which confirmed outfielder Sal Frelick is heading on a rehab assignment to Triple-A Nashville.
Frelick, 26, hasn't played in the big leagues since Friday, July 17. It's been just about a month since he went on the 10-day Injured List, but manager Pat Murphy doesn't want this move to get Brewers fans too excited.
According to Hunter Baumgardt of FSRWI, Murphy said Frelick "could be on his rehab assignment for the full 20 days."
Ultimately, the Brewers know they need to do whatever they can to get him healthy and back on the big league roster.
Having rookie Luis Lara around has certainly helped, but Frelick gives this team an extra boost and further outfield depth not many teams in baseball can say they have the opportunity of having.
Frelick may not return until the end of the month
There's no doubt this rehab assignment is a step in the right direction, but it seems like Frelick still isn't anywhere near where the team needs him to be.
Before this roster move was officially announced, Murphy said the organization was going to have Frelick exclusively act as the designated hitter, but only for the time being.
Frelick and the rest of this coaching staff aren't too comfortable with where he's at in his throwing program, so they're not going to rush his return to the outfield.
When discussing things with the media, Baumgardt reported Murphy and Co. "want to get Frelick's offensive production closer to what it was last year."
For reference, the Massachusetts native is slashing .236/.301/.330 this season. Those numbers are down, across the board, in a big way. Frelick had a career year in 2025 that saw a much, much better slash line: .288/.351/.405.
Putting things into perspective, his on-base percentage was better a year ago than his slugging percentage is here in 2026. Frelick appeared in 142 games last season with 528 at-bats. When it comes to 2026, he's appeared in 90 games and has 276 at-bats.
Brewers need to be at full strength for the playoffs
Pitching-wise, this team knows they're without stars such as Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester. At the plate, they're close to full strength, other than Frelick being on the shelf. Brandon Lockridge is officially back, so he helps in the depth department while Frelick heads to his rehab assignment.
Other than some slumps, Milwaukee has just about everyone they want producing in this lineup. There's still nearly two full months of regular season action remaining, so getting Frelick back soon is one thing, but making sure he's at 100% is another.
