TJ Friedl

TJ Friedl

29-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Cincinnati Reds
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Injuries marred Friedl's 2024 season, though he still managed 13 homers and nine steals in 85 games. An ill-fated dive in spring training resulted in a fractured right wrist and he fractured his left thumb on a hit-by-pitch in his first week back from the injured list in May. Essentially it was a nightmare start for Friedl and the Reds, and it wasn't over yet; he hit the IL again in June with a hamstring injury. After bursting onto the scene with 18 homers, 27 steals and an .819 OPS in 2023, Friedl's performance fell off around the injuries last season. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016, Friedl has made a career out of proving people wrong, and he will have to continue to do so because the underlying numbers don't exactly portend good things. Already 29 years old, Friedl will have to make the most of his contact skills and speed to maintain everyday playing time for a Reds team with heightened expectations entering 2025. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#252
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Reds in March of 2024.
Penciled into leadoff spot
OFCincinnati Reds
March 25, 2025
Friedl is projected to serve as the Reds' Opening Day center fielder and leadoff hitter Thursday against the Giants, Charlie Goldsmith of Cincinnati Magazine reports.
ANALYSIS
Friedl looks poised to return to the role of primary table-setter in Cincinnati -- a spot he filled regularly under former manager David Bell. Injuries limited Friedl to just 85 games last season and likely sapped his effectiveness at the plate, as his OPS plummeted from .819 in 2023 to just .690 in 2024. The 29-year-old managed only two extra-base hits (both doubles) and didn't steal a base this spring, but he at least got on base at a .352 clip across 54 Cactus League plate appearances.
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Batting Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
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2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+10%
OPS vs LHP
2025
 
 
-100%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+8%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+23%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .828 192 19 5 25 11 .293 .383 .445
Since 2023vs Right .755 710 90 26 97 25 .251 .324 .431
2025vs Left .000 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2025vs Right 1.000 4 1 0 1 0 .500 .500 .500
2024vs Left .651 81 7 2 13 4 .209 .338 .313
2024vs Right .701 260 28 11 42 5 .230 .301 .400
2023vs Left .962 110 12 3 12 7 .354 .421 .542
2023vs Right .785 446 61 15 54 20 .260 .336 .449
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2025
 
 
-100%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+23%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+28%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .808 431 45 17 65 17 .261 .339 .469
Since 2023Away .736 471 64 14 57 19 .258 .334 .402
2025Home .800 5 1 0 1 0 .400 .400 .400
2025Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024Home .615 161 11 4 23 3 .207 .294 .321
2024Away .757 180 24 9 32 6 .242 .324 .433
2023Home .926 265 33 13 41 14 .291 .365 .561
2023Away .724 291 40 5 25 13 .267 .340 .384
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Stat Review
How does TJ Friedl compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.00
 
BB Rate
0.0%
 
K Rate
20.0%
 
BABIP
.500
 
ISO
.000
 
AVG
.400
 
OBP
.400
 
SLG
.400
 
OPS
.800
 
wOBA
.356
 
Exit Velocity
0.0 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
0.0%
 
Barrels/PA
0.0%
 
Expected BA
.000
 
Expected SLG
.000
 
Sprint Speed
0.0 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
75.0%
 
Line Drive %
25.0%
 
Fly Ball %
0.0%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2017
While he may not look the part, Friedl became a fantasy darling last season with a .279/.352/.467 line, 18 homers and 27 steals in 556 plate appearances. He projects to be the Reds' everyday center fielder after a surprising 4.4 fWAR season, but Friedl will continue to have his doubters even with his high contact rate given the fact that his xSLG, average exit velocity and barrel rate all ranked in the bottom seven percent of the league, among other reasons. Friedl did a disproportionate amount of his damage at home, managing a .724 OPS on the road. He hit lefty pitching well, but he was rather fortunate in that regard (.425 BABIP) and some giveback against same-side pitching should be expected. Signed in 2016 as an undrafted free agent -- there were 40 rounds back in 2016 -- Friedl has made a career out of proving people wrong. If he continues to do so, he will reach folk hero status in Cincinnati and fantasy circles.
Friedl has the chance to be one of those overlooked players who falls into more playing time than their skillset otherwise deserves because he is on a bad ball club bereft of talent to overtake him at the position. Friedl is a high contact hitter with speed and little power who could benefit from reduced shifting and use his willingness to accept walks and convert them into steals on the bases under the new rules. Friedl's home to first time, a good indicator of potential steals, is near the 90th percentile league-wide, so he has the skills to at least duplicate the 17 steals he had in 2022 between Triple-A and the majors in 21 attempts. He is also projected to hit leadoff as things currently stand on the roster making him an excellent candidate to potentially triple his MLB steals total from 2022 on volume alone if he can improve his ability to get on base. Simply put, he is an intriguing late game speed dart throw in all league formats.
Friedl made his big-league debut last year, hitting .290 with one home run and more walks (four) than strikeouts (two) in 36 PA. He will once again be in line for some work in the majors, particularly if the Reds don't add to the roster after the lockout. Known as a light-hitting outfielder with good contact skill and plus speed, Friedl is capable of playing center field or left field, and he fits best as a fourth or fifth outfielder. His .264/.357/.422 slash line and 111 wRC+ at Triple-A was not overly impressive for a player who is set to turn 27 in August. However, he should at least make enough contact to hold is own at the bottom third of the lineup against right-handed pitching. He makes for a fine depth piece in NL-only and deep draft-and-hold formats, given his speed and the fact the Reds will likely have playing time available.
Friedl's story is pretty incredible. A perfect storm of draft status confusion, limitations imposed by draft allotment rules and plain oversight (among other factors), led to Friedl going undrafted in 2016. The Reds did their homework and ended up signing Friedl in August, giving him the largest signing bonus ever for an undrafted player. He began to reward the organization immediately, posting a .423 OBP and 16 extra-base hits from the left side of the plate in a 29-game stint with rookie-level Billings. The 21-year-old also stole seven bases, flashing the plus-plus speed that should keep him in center field. That speed along with advanced plate skills and surprising power for a 5-foot-10, 170 pound frame, is enough to put Friedl among the top 10 in the Reds' system, but those in keeper leagues may want to wait and see how Friedl fares with a full-season affiliate before investing.
More Fantasy News
Back in center field
OFCincinnati Reds
February 25, 2025
Friedl started in center field and went 1-for-3 with a run scored in Monday's Cactus League game against the Dodgers.
ANALYSIS
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Moves to leadoff Wednesday
OFCincinnati Reds
September 26, 2024
Friedl batted leadoff and went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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Not in Thursday's lineup
OFCincinnati Reds
September 19, 2024
Friedl is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game against Atlanta.
ANALYSIS
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Four hits, homer in win
OFCincinnati Reds
September 14, 2024
Friedl went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer and an additional run scored in Saturday's 11-1 win over the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Contributes to win
OFCincinnati Reds
September 14, 2024
Friedl went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and an additional run scored in Friday's 8-4 win over the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Superficial pop
OFCincinnati Reds
August 6, 2023
Friedl's .446 slugging percentage is vastly outperforming his .313 xSLG.
ANALYSIS
Friedl's 10 home runs is a modest total that seems on par given that he's pulled every homer to his strong side of the field. However, the 27-year-old's .240/.283/.313 expected slash line pales significantly in comparison to his actual .282/.349/.446 production through 364 plate appearances. He's worth monitoring as a regression candidate.
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