TODAY: Reds manager David Bell gave the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith (Twitter links) and other reporters a positive update on Friedl, saying that the MRI result revealed only “mild” damage. However, “the area it’s in, you have to stay cautious….In the next 48 hours, we’ll decide if he goes to the IL or not.” Even if Friedl does need to visit the injured list, Bell expressed hope that Friedl might only take a relatively minimal absence, since “he’s feeling pretty good. Some guys can be out 3-to-6 weeks. I don’t think it’s that type of situation.“
MAY 11: Reds outfielder TJ Friedl left today’s game due to soreness in his side and will be undergoing an MRI, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.
To this point, it’s unclear if Friedly is facing any sort of serious issue, with the imaging sure to provide more clarity. But if he did end up having to miss some time, it would be a disappointing development with Friedl being one of the bright spots on a rebuilding Reds club this year.
The 27-year-old has taken 138 trips to the plate in 2023 and is hitting .306/.351/.468 in that time for a wRC+ of 115, indicating he’s been 15% better than the league average hitter. He won’t be able to maintain a .376 batting average on balls in play for the entire season but he’s long had strong bat-to-ball skills. His 21% strikeout rate so far this year would be higher than any of his previous stops in his career, majors or minors, but is still a bit below the 22.7% league average for major leaguers in 2023.
Friedl was given negative grades for his defense in his first couple of seasons but has seemingly made some strides here in 2023. He has a +4 from Defensive Runs Saved, +1 Outs Above Average and a grade of 1.9 from Ultimate Zone Rating. He also has four stolen bases and his sprint speed is considered by Statcast to be in the 85th percentile. When combined with his solid work at the plate, he’s produced 1.3 wins above replacement already this year in the eyes of FanGraphs, enough to give him the team lead.
If Friedl were to require a stint on the injured list, the club would have to come up with a plan for center field. Friedl had been sharing the position with Nick Senzel, but the latter has been playing more third base of late, kicking Spencer Steer over to first. Perhaps they could move Steer back over to the hot corner and Senzel to center, but they might also look to other options if they are happy with how things have been going of late. Jose Barrero has been primarily a shortstop, splitting that spot with Kevin Newman, but also has a handful of starts in center and could perhaps get some more time there.
The Reds will likely be hoping they don’t have to consider such contingency plans with the ideal outcome being that Friedl’s MRI doesn’t find anything concerning. He came into this season with less than a year of service time and could be a long-term part of the club’s roster if he continues to have solid results as an all-around contributor.
Here comes CES!
Senzel to CF, Steer to 3B, Encarnacion-Strand to 1B.
Why would we want him when McLain can take over at SS and rid us of Barrero
Bring up McLain and CES!
Where ya gonna go though?
Side soreness. Ok. “Hey boss I won’t be in today. I have side soreness.”
A catcher has side soreness daily. An outfielder, not so much.
I think he’s getting too much on the side…
Disappointing if the MRI shows something is an understatement.
Side soreness is the obligatory oblique.
DeLaCruz can play center, so can McLain.
Start the clock on Elly, he’s just about ready. Nothing more to prove in AAA, in my eyes. Time has been manipulated, he’d more than likely be a Super 2.
The Reds historically do not rush players, especially position players. I look for him up around the All Star break barring any backsliding.
I think McLain might be the one up sooner as he is a bit more experienced and Barrero is not setting the world afire.
I still see Elly in CF eventually. They can’t play all these hot prospect guys on the infield.
Everything about Elly looks like he is going to be a super stud; freakish Oneil Cruz-like but perhaps better. The ’23 OBP is low, but not in an alarming sort of way. He should do fine in CF if that’s his eventual ticket. Congrats Reds, he looks like a winner for sure. I’d love to see his ticket punched soon, but ASB is probably more likely.
he started the year on a 1-21 slump but now has the OBP up to a solid .345
They have arguably their 3 best offensive players right now in AAA in McLain, CES and De La Cruz.
This team is ridiculous for holding them down. I don’t understand how people can be fans of teams that go out of their way to lose and prevent fans from seeing the best product they can offer.
In Elly’s case, he needs to work on defense, cut down on strikeouts and increase his walk rate. CES is learning first base so it is his defense too. I honestly have no idea why McLain is still there. I think he was better than Barrero from the outset.
In a lot of cases, it is a place to play. They don’t want to bring up guys to ride the bench. Look at who else is there and who has a big contract. They also want guys to come up and stay, so they want to make sure they can handle it. The last thing you want to do is send him back down for lack of performance.
There is always more to it than stats.
De La Cruz, I can understand why he’s still down there bc he’s striking out 1/3 of the time.
CES can learn first base at the MLB level – it’s not like the Reds are competing for anything. If nothing else, let him DH, play some 1B when Votto comes back and needs a day off. He’ll figure it out.
McLain is being blocked by Barrero and Kevin Newman. It makes no sense.
The reasoning is service time manipulation. Reds ownership is among the worst in baseball – right up there with the Pirates. It’s not like fans won’t come out even if they are good. If either the Reds or Pirates put a good product on the field, fans will show up. The owners just don’t care.
CES has 1 walk vs 18 strikeouts this season. That’s something they want him to work on.
I can’t argue with ownership not caring in the Reds case.
They had the kid GM sit on his hands all offseason while there were affordable upgrades to be had. With an 82 million payroll, a 4th and 5th veteran starter and bullpen help would bring it to what, 100 or so? Then you have a better product, don’t blow one run leads so much and give the young starters more confidence and someone to learn from.
Instead, you have kids with short stints in Greene and Lodolo, blown leads, having to learn the hard way and a bullpen that is holding up for now but we see how it ends when overworked.
A lot of you all have seen this before, but it doesn’t make it less true.
The bullpen day today was crap as well. Burn them out some more instead of bringing up a deserving kud like Abbott.
One last thing, the service time manipulation thing should have ended the last CBA. Shame on both sides for letting that idiocy continue.
^^^ This right here. As a fan for six decades; when you see it repeatedly, you cannot unsee it. It is and has always been on ownership. Which is a shame. Reds (and Pirates) fans deserve much better.
You’re blaming “both sides” for service time manipulation? That’s wholly on teams, not players. The players are 100% against it, but they can only do so much.
They accepted the CBA every time. So yeah, both sides.
They better leave Simmons Cell alone. Never has. He looked this good. He’s a better third baseman than anyone they have. Move Jose Erroro back to AAA. And he clearly has not figured anything out more sadly defensively he is horrible.
Get strand and McClain up. Fairchild can play cf for now
We don’t need three catchers. Use the fifth spot in the rotation with an opener and bring up a relief pitcher to help.
I hope Friedl is ok, but if he goes on the IL they’ll promote Benson. Reds are showing patience and no one seems to get it. Even in the face of a lot of injuries, Krall (and Bell) are engineering slow but steady improvement on the team. And will continue to make the team better-all year long.
There is patience and then there is retarding a young player’s development. It is a smart staff that knows the difference. I don’t believe Krall does brcause of his marching orders.
If they promote Benson, I hope they don’t play him. Fairchild is a much better option then a guy swinging and missing most of the time. That just kills an offense that has to rely on contact to begin with because they don’t have long ball threats right now.
Blaw blaw blaw reds front office won’t do it thell stay with the crap they have now no ces no Dela Cruz no McClain to scared about starting there service time
Friedl is a solid player and could play on any team. I hope he gets well and makes it back soon.