Terry Lee "TJ" Friedl (born August 14, 1995) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the Cincinnati Reds of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). After playing

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. Hi ...

, he signed with the Reds, receiving the largest bonus ever given to an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, in 2016. Friedl made his MLB debut in 2021.

Amateur career

Friedl attended Foothill High School in

Pleasanton, California Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton wa ...

, where he played for the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

teams. He was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in three seasons for the baseball team, and had a .308

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. He enrolled at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

, where he walked on to the

Nevada Wolf Pack baseball The Nevada Wolf Pack baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Nevada, Reno in Reno, Nevada, United States. The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. Nevada's fi ...

team. He batted .216 in 37 at bats as a freshman. When told he would play sparingly again as a sophomore, Friedl agreed to take a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

year to preserve a season of eligibility. In his junior year, Friedl received more playing time. He batted .401, the 11th-best batting average in college baseball, and finished with the second-most triples, 17th-best on-base percentage (.494), and 24th-most hits (89). Friedl was named to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

's first team. He was set to become the Wolf Pack's captain in his next season. Mistakenly believing that he needed to play college baseball for three years, rather than attend college for three years, to be eligible for the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, Friedl did not consider it an option. That summer he played for the St. Cloud (MN) Rox of the Northwoods League where he hit .373 in 16 games with 12 stolen bases and was selected to play in the all-star game but prior to the NWL all-star game he signed with the

United States national collegiate baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

, and compiled a .290 batting average and a .536 slugging percentage.

Scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

for MLB teams began to contact Friedl about signing.

Professional career

Friedl signed with the Cincinnati Reds in July 2016. He received a $732,500 signing bonus, the biggest bonus given to an undrafted

. He made his professional debut with the

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and hit two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in his first game. In total, he finished 2016 with a .347 batting average, three home runs, and 17

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs) in 29 games. In 2017, he played for both the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. I ...

and the

Daytona Tortugas The Daytona Tortugas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and play their home games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in ...

, posting a combined .273 batting average with seven home runs, 38 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases in 114 games between both teams. Friedl spent 2018 with both Daytona and the

Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home games at Admiral Fetterman Field. In 2012, the team rel ...

, batting .284/.381/.384 with five home runs, 51 RBIs, and thirty stolen bases in 131 games between the two clubs. Friedl spent the 2019 season with the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

, hitting .235/.347/.385/.732 with five home runs and 28 RBIs. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2021, he played for the Louisville Bats, hitting .264/.357/.422/.779 with 12 home runs and 36 RBIs. On September 18, 2021, the Reds selected Friedl's contract to the active roster. He made his major league debut that day as a pinch hitter. Friedl recorded his first major league hit, a home run, on September 19.

Personal life

Friedl has three older sisters. His second cousin is John Calipari who is the head coach of the University of Kentucky’s Men’s Basketball team.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedl, T. J. 1995 births Living people People from Pleasanton, California Baseball players from California Major League Baseball outfielders Cincinnati Reds players Nevada Wolf Pack baseball players Billings Mustangs players Dayton Dragons players Daytona Tortugas players Pensacola Blue Wahoos players Chattanooga Lookouts players Louisville Bats players