Reds Place TJ Friedl On Injured List, Select Levi Jordan

The Reds announced that outfielder TJ Friedl has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. In a corresponding move, the club has selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Levi Jordan. There was already a vacancy on the 40-man roster, which is now full.

It’s turning out to be a very frustrating season for Friedl, as this is already his third IL stint this year. A right wrist fracture and a left thumb fracture previously sent him to the shelf and now this hamstring strain has him back there again.

Around those injuries, he hasn’t been able to get into a good groove, with a line of .208/.309/.354 in his 111 plate appearances. That’s a far cry from the .267/.341/.456 line he had coming into the season, but it’s possible that the injuries have played a role in diminishing his performance, either because he’s been playing at less than one hundred percent or just hasn’t had enough runway to get in good form.

Speaking of not playing at full health, Friedl missed some time with this hamstring issue on Tuesday and Wednesday but was back in the lineup last week. “There was some risk involved in playing TJ last night,” manager David Bell said on Saturday, per Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer on X. “I listened to the trainers and TJ. It felt like we made the right decision. There was definitely risk.” In hindsight, taking that risk wasn’t the wise move, as Friedl is now out of action yet again. Today, Bell says that Friedl was around 80 to 85% yesterday and will hopefully be back in two to three weeks, per Goldsmith on X.

Notable absences have been a big part of the Cincinnati season thus far, with Noelvi Marté having missed the whole campaign thus far due to a PED suspension while injuries have hampered players like Friedl, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and several pitchers as well. The club is 36-41 and still hanging around the weak Wild Card race, but the ongoing injury issues could hamper them in their attempts to climb in the standings.

For now, Friedl’s absence will pave the way for Jordan to get to the big leagues for the first time. Now 28, Jordan was a 29th-round pick of the Cubs back in 2018. He was never really a notable prospect during his time with the Cubs and they even left him unprotected in the minor league portion of last year’s Rule 5 draft.

The Reds grabbed him in the third round of the minor league phase of the Rule 5 and he has put together arguably his best minor league performance to date. He has hit .302/.384/.443 in Triple-A this year for a wRC+ of 118. The only time he had a wRC+ above that was during a 24-game stint at Double-A in 2022. In addition to his solid offense this year, he has stolen six bases while playing second base, third base and the outfield. He also has some past experience at shortstop and first base. He’ll give the Reds some depth all over the roster and will make his major league debut tonight. He’s in tonight’s lineup, playing right field and batting eighth.