This year’s MLB Draft, as short and sweet as it was, is in the books.
But it is never too early to look ahead to next year.
One player to keep an eye on plays at Boston College but has ties to Westmoreland County.
Rising junior Sal Frelick, who attended high school in Massachusetts but still has family in Greensburg, is forecast as a top-30 pick for 2021. Bleacher Report’s initial mock draft has him going No. 16 overall, as a shortstop.
Bleacher Report’s first 2021 MLB mock draft. File that under things you love to see. Catch these guys and the rest of @BCBirdBall next spring only on WZBC Sports. @SalFrelick @mason_pelio pic.twitter.com/sZ8UBQ3bVL
— WZBC Sports (@WZBCSports) June 12, 2020
With the MLB Draft tonight, a friendly reminder that @SalFrelick is currently rated by Perfect Game as the 10th best college prospect for the 2021 draft. #BirdballOnWZBC pic.twitter.com/rRB1MqicKy
— WZBC Sports (@WZBCSports) June 10, 2020
A three-sport athlete in high school who was a team captain in baseball, football and hockey, Frelick comes from a family rich in athletic talent.
His father, Jeff, went to Pitt to play football before he was sidelined by an injury. He also played at Greensburg Central Catholic. Sal’s grandfather, Henry, played quarterback at Greensburg Salem.
Sal Frelick played in 15 games this season before the coronavirus shut down college sports. He was leading the Eagles in runs scored (17), stolen bases (seven), and walks (11). He had two home runs.
Last season as a freshman, he played all 39 games and hit .367 with four homers, 32 RBIs and 30 runs.
The former Boston Globe Athlete of the Year made the ACC All-Freshman Team.
Some say the 5-foot-9, 175-pound Frelick could have had extended his football career. Massachusetts’ Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017, he threw 52 touchdowns as a senior while playing quarterback for Lexington High School.
@LexMinutemenAth Congrats to Sal Frelick, the Massachusetts 2017-18 Gatorade State Football Player of the Year. #GatoradePOY pic.twitter.com/HuuWxjjQSE
— Hudl (@Hudl) December 11, 2017
Frelick is set to play his summer baseball in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, where he was the top pro prospect and a Perfect Game Summer Collegiate in 2018.
The top-3 in the @BosHeraldSports All-Decade MIAA Eastern Mass. lineup are all #Birdball? alums or current student-athletes.
?https://t.co/tTl9opL8Wf pic.twitter.com/oHXA5v5oa7
— BC Baseball (@BCBirdBall) May 11, 2020
