Top prospect Frelick out 6-8 weeks

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers outfield prospect Sal Frelick underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb and will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks, delivering another blow to what had been Milwaukee’s greatest area of organizational depth.

Frelick, No. 2 on MLB Pipeline’s list of Milwaukee’s top prospects and No. 27 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, was injured sliding into second base for Triple-A Nashville on April 18 -- the same night Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell separated his left shoulder in Seattle. Manager Craig Counsell confirmed Tuesday that Mitchell’s second opinion confirmed a diagnosis of significant labral damage and said Mitchell was scheduled for surgery next week that could end his season.

Frelick, too, had a second opinion before agreeing to surgery. He was slashing .232/.318/.321 in 15 games for Nashville, including a three-hit game at Jacksonville on the night he was hurt, adding two more hits.

The next day, Frelick was scratched from the starting lineup after reporting soreness, and further testing revealed a UCL sprain in his thumb. The timing could not have been worse; the Brewers were assessing their options to cover Mitchell’s absence at the time, and Frelick surely would have been a leading candidate after rocketing from High-A Wisconsin to Triple-A Nashville last year while pushing his average up and his strikeout rate down at each stop.

Now, with both Mitchell and Frelick down for a while, the Brewers are likely to continue featuring another top prospect, Joey Wiemer (Brewers No. 3, overall No. 83) in center field, at least until Tyrone Taylor has finished rehabbing a right elbow injury. Taylor was assigned to Nashville on Tuesday as he continues a rehab assignment.

Both Mitchell and Frelick are former first-round Draft picks. The Brewers selected Mitchell 20th overall in 2020 and Frelick 15th overall in 2021.