Sal Frelick did not enter the 2021 baseball season at the top of the prospect board, but he has made himself very attractive. The Boston College outfielder has positioned himself to become the school’s highest draft selection since Justin Dunn went 19th overall in 2016. He may not be at the very top of the board, but he is steadily rising due to his play.
Sal Frelick Draft Profile
Frelick is a compact right-handed bat listed at 5’9″, 175-pounds. MLB’s board rates him as the 11th-best prospect at the moment. He has had an outstanding year for BC, hitting .398/473/559 with six home runs in 228 plate appearances. Those numbers are vastly superior to the .241/380/414 over 58 PAs in 2020. Obviously, the short year wasn’t beneficial for Frelick, but there is also something to be said for having much of that short year spent in colder northeastern weather. It is good that he was able to participate in the 2020 Futures Baseball Collegiate League and hit .398/473/592 in 112 plate appearances. That helps reinforce the reality that the regular college season was too short to get any rhythm going.
One interesting thing to note is that Boston College’s season is very close to being over. Meaning that there is very little left for him to do in advance of the draft. Teams will have plenty of 2021 data, but he may not have any real action for multiple weeks when the draft does finally take place.
Strengths
Frelick looks like a solid bat near the top of the lineup. His grades reflect an almost stereotypical contact-first approach. MLB gives him a 60 out of 80 for his hit tool and 65 for his runner. However, a 45 power grade counteracts that somewhat. It looks like a classic centerfield profile hitting first in the order if everything goes well. The important thing will be maintaining a healthy 12.4 percent college walk rate, which has contributed to an overall on-base percentage of .441. It’s hard to know if ACC pitching suffered more from last year’s layoff than hitters, but his stats are still quite promising.
Weaknesses
The lack of power is something that teams will certainly factor into their evaluations. Many players can still survive on a contact-first approach, but power rules the current game on both sides of the diamond. The good thing is that his running and glove should make him a versatile asset. We also can’t discount the possibility of rule changes that may make Frelick’s profile more valuable in the future.
MLB Comp
Baseball has seen very few players as short as Frelick since the expansion era began in 1995. However, Delino DeShields may be a fair comparison. The current Cleveland Indians centerfielder has a career slash line of .246/326/340 with 18 home runs in 2056 plate appearances. That is not a good slash line, but there is still time for the former eighth overall selection to resurrect his career after years of underperformance with the Texas Rangers. Consider DeShields something of a baseline composition as Shane Victorino was also a diminutive outfielder with very little power and yet played over 10 years with two all-star appearances. There is a wide range of future outcomes for someone like Frelick.
Players mentioned: Sal Frelick, Justin Dunn, Delino DeShields, Shane Victorino
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
