PITTSBURGH – The last thing in the world TJ Friedl expected when he opened this season of sky-high expectations leading off for the Cincinnati Reds was that he would spend nearly all of June as a minor-leaguer.
Maybe that even helped explain going hitless with three strikeouts in his first two games for Triple-A Louisville.
“Then he got real hot,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “It’s never easy for a guy to be told you’re going back to Triple-A. And he (expletive) handled it, kind of like you would expect Friedl to handle it. …But that’s a tough message.”
After those first two games, Friedl hit .306 with three home runs, a .386 on-base percentage and .918 OPS the next 16 games before earning his recall to the big-league club Sunday in Pittsburgh – where he started in center field, batting eighth.
“When he walked in (Sunday morning), I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that many people excited to see somebody,” Francona said.
The opportunity for Friedl to return came at the expense of outfielder Blake Dunn, who landed on the injured list with a sprained right elbow suffered on a throw to the plate in Friday’s series opener in Pittsburgh.
The severity of Dunn’s injury isn’t expected to be determined until he undergoes an arthrogram Monday in Cincinnati.
Dunn had been playing well hitting mostly leadoff. He was batting .282 with seven doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs with six stolen bases while playing solid defense.
Friedl, who hadn’t been in the minors since his rookie year in 2022, called it a “blessing” to return.
“I’m just grateful God opened this door for me to come back here to be with these guys,” he said. “It’s just incredible to be back in this clubhouse.”
On his initial emotions to being demoted June 2, he said, “I just had some things to work on and had some things to improve, and that was my goal – just to get better.”
Friedl, 30, was hitting .179 with a .259 on-base percentage when sent out.
He said he worked on some mechanics issues with his swing at Louisville said he feels good now, which the numbers seemed to show.
“To me the results were kind of secondary, and it was more so just working on myself and simplifying some things and getting back to the kind of player I am,” he said, “to help this team. That’s really all that matters at the end of the day.”
The Reds reached the midway point in the season Saturday with a losing (39-42) record and last-place standing, even after beating the Pirates the previous two games to win a series against a division opponent for the first time this season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘Grateful’ TJ Friedl back in Reds lineup after 4-week demotion
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
