Milwaukee Brewers Star Duo Talks Season, Teammates and Money with Fastball on FanNation

Against all odds, the Milwaukee Brewers put together an incredible season in 2024. Despite trading away Corbin Burnes and Adrian Houser last offseason, and despite losing Brandon Woodruff, Wade Miley and Robert Gasser to season-ending injuries, the Brewers went 93-69 to win the National League Central by a whopping 10 games.

It was the biggest win of any division winner in baseball and took the Brewers all the way to the playoffs, where they were unfortunately beaten by the New York Mets in the wild card round.

Earlier this week, the Fastball on FanNation team had an opportunity to exclusively sit down with Brewers stars Brice Turang and Sal Frelick about the season, some of their teammates and some financial advice through a partnership with Northwestern Mutual.

It should be noted that both players were named as finalists for Gold Glove Awards on Tuesday, but the interview happened prior to that announcement. NOTE: Some questions and answers have been partially edited for brevity and clarities sake.

Brady Farkas: What is it about manager Pat Murphy that allowed you guys to gel so well – and so quickly – this season?

Sal Frelick: I think the biggest thing that he did was kind of set out a foundation for our identity as a team.

Even pretty early, you kind of saw what that was. It was maybe a little bit of small ball, stealing bases, running the bases, taking the extra base, playing great defense. Like we kind of had our identity and he just made sure everybody really bought into that in spring. I think that kind of just molded us and got us ready for the season where I think we just hit the ground running, and it started in New York.

BF And what was this year like for you? You started out the year working in the infield and then instantly you’re back in the outfield. How important was it for you to just be adaptable and flexible this year, and what was that all like for you? 

SF: Basically since Murphy called me in December last offseason, I planned on playing infield. I get to spring and I don't know if I took one fly ball in spring training and I was pretty much just in the infield.

But Garrett (Mitchell) went down with the Injury, maybe the last day of spring. And they were like, all right, we're kind of just going to scratch everything that just happened. I think that's just kind of what being a baseball player is, it's being able to play anywhere and at least being able to try and give it a shot to play anywhere.

So, I guess I just ended up back in the outfield this year, but you never know what's going to happen.

BF: Bryce, for you, you stole 50 bases this year, which is an insane accomplishment. How do you feel about your chances to hit 47 home runs more next year to tie Otani? 

BT: Oh, geez, man.  Yeah. I don't know. I guess you kind of just laugh at it. I have to hit the weight room a little bit more.

BF: I want to ask you about some of your teammates this year. Sal, talk to me about Jackson Chourio, who is going to be up for the Rookie of the Year Award. What were your impressions of him? 

SF: Yeah. I mean, obviously a generational talent. I think any baseball fan, when they watch him for the first time, whether he swings and messes or hits it over the fence, notices that he kind of has that something about him that's just really special.

I think that the most important thing, and I think Bryce and the rest of the team would agree, is just that he's like a really good kid. I think he's mature beyond his age, but at the same time, he doesn't really lose that “I'm playing like a kid" vibe, which is why I think he's so special. He didn’t get off to the best start and for a guy that young to get out of that, I think is more impressive than if if he had just come up and just blew the competition away from day one. I think it's so impressive especially for his first year in the league after signing an extension, playing at 20 years old, to see him grow and kind of mature was really cool.

BF: Bryce, talk about your middle infield mate, and that's Willy Adames. I know we’re talking about money here and he’s going to get a lot of it, hopefully from you guys, this offseason. What was it like to pair with him this year during his great year? 

BT: He’s great. He's one of the leaders of our team and he's a great guy off the field too. He’s an unbelievable baseball player as well. He’s helped me out a ton. I mean, me and him talk all the time about the infield and stuff like that and just trying to pick his brain and learn from him.

I'm happy for him. I'm happy for the year he had and whatever happens, happens.  I'll be happy for him. He's a great guy, man.  He's one of one. He's one of a kind. The way he handles the locker room, the way he just handles everything. You know, he's the same guy, no matter how he's doing, how he's playing.

And he's definitely a guy that people look up to and want to be like.

BF: Bryce, you guys won the Central comfortably, but it doesn’t seem like it will be that easy next year. This is a division loaded with young talent and historic franchises.

BT: Yeah, you said it. There's a lot of young guys rolling around in our division. They're good teams and they're gonna go out there and play hard just like us. You gotta just treat every game, play your game and try to beat them, you know, as much as you can.

But yeah, I think the talent in our divisions is there for sure. It's just competing hard and trying to win games. 

BF: Sal, let’s talk about the money aspect. The assumption is that pro athletes are all millionaires but they aren’t. By the time you take your contract and taxes and agent fees, etc, that paycheck isn’t what we think it is. Talk to me a little about your financial planning side of things:

SF: Yeah, obviously it kind of happened pretty quick. Getting drafted, just being a 19-20 year old kid in college where I'm not really worried about much financially. You get housing, get a meal plan, so there's not a lot of budgeting going on. I remember once I got drafted to like playing in the minors, you're not making a ton of money.

Obviously guys have different signing bonuses, but that's kind of where you are really like, “I'm in the real world” and you’ve really got to budget and plan. And that's kind of where I first started learning that. And obviously I'm on a little more salary now than I was in the minor leagues but it’s so applicable to budget and just make sure that you're allocating money where you want to and hopefully one day retire comfortably.

BF: Why was it important? Obviously, Northwestern Mutual is a partner of the Brewers, but why was it important for you specifically to be involved here in National Financial Planning Month? 

BT: Just to kind of show people how to save money and how we live it. And just speak on my opportunity that I’ve had with money trying to set myself up later on so that young fans and people can learn and understand that. And I thought it was a good opportunity to share my side and my story.

You can learn more on the Northwestern Mutual "My Time to Plan Series" by clicking this link:

Northwestern Mutual, a leading financial services company, announced today the launch of the company's digital series "My Time to Plan" highlighting the often surprising and deeply personal world of money and finances among professional athletes.

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