CINCINNATI — Where would the Reds be without TJ Friedl?
The Reds center fielder again proved just how valuable he is to the 2025 club with a game-saving grab on a Jake Bauers drive that was ticketed for the grassy berm that would’ve been another dagger into the midseason hopes of a team hoping to stay afloat in the NL Central.
The Reds were up 4-2 and Emilio Pagan retired the first two batters of the ninth. Then Caleb Durbin hit a grounder to short that Elly De La Cruz threw 95 mph over the head of first baseman Spencer Steer and into the photo well behind first base.
With Bauers called up to pinch-hit, Pagan tried to get a 97 mph four-seam fastball past the Brewers left-handed hitter. He didn’t. Bauers elevated it and it carried and carried, taking Friedl back to the warning track. Friedl leaped at just the right time and brought it back for a “walk-off” defensive play that he called better than any walk-off hit he’s ever had.
“How about that?” a smiling Friedl asked rhetorically to open the press conference at Cincinnati’s 4-2 escape Tuesday.
“I think this tops my other walk-offs, for sure. To end a game like that, you dream of that as a kid, as an outfielder growing up in your backyard, robbing home runs and stuff, like you always dream of walk-offs but ending it like that was special,” Friedl said.
First base coach Colin Cowgill also works often with Reds outfielders on robbing home runs. He worked with the outfield group on Monday, the first day back at Great American Ball Park from the road trip through Kansas City and Chicago.
“We worked on it (Monday),” Friedl said. “We worked on it literally yesterday. And last time in 2023, when I robbed that home run in center, we worked on it that day. And then I went out and robbed it, and then, and then we worked on it yesterday, and you see it still happens it. Maybe we should work on it more.”
Reds manager Terry Francona could barely stand to watch.
“I think I threw up in my mouth,” Francona said. “I’m not even sure how to describe it. All of a sudden, that ball leaves the bat, and we couldn’t tell Friedl caught it. That was certainly a nice feeling. You may have seen a grown man crying.”
TJ FRIEDL ROBBERY TO END THE GAME #ATOBTTR pic.twitter.com/us9OqA1tYS
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 4, 2025
The spectacular play snapped Milwaukee’s eight-game win streak and ended Cincinnati’s three-game skid. It was also just Cincinnati’s ninth win in 32 games against Milwaukee since the start of the 2023 season.
Tyler Stephenson had a two-run homer and Will Benson homered after striking out his first three times up to help Cincinnati win for the second time in five tries against Milwaukee this season.
“It’s been a couple tough days for us,” Francona said. “And they keep having energy within now. I use that word a lot, but sometimes, that’s one of the better things you can do, because sometimes we’re not getting hits. You’re not getting hits, not because they’re not trying.”
For most of his time in Cincinnati, Friedl has been the “energy” of the Reds at the top of the lineup. And he’s been something else in 2025 – the undisputed MVP of the Reds so far. He’s been a rock solid force at the top of the order, slashing .304/.385/.424. His average is ranked second in MLB among leadoff hitters, his OBP is second, his 68 hits rank fifth and his 99 times reaching base put him in a tie for second.
In terms of intangibles, he is the smiling positive force of this club. Just one look at his postgame press conference Tuesday night affirms that. Friedl clearly brings much more than intangibles to the plate and the field but his production so far this season stresses just how much the little things matter as a team struggles for consistency.
“Absolutely, it’s baseball, little things add up into big things,” Friedl told me. “You can’t go searching for the big thing all the time. You can’t go searching for the grand slam, the three-run home run. Sometimes small ball is the best way to do it. Sometimes, moving a guy over, little things like that at the plate turn into big things, right? And that’s how you create chaos.”
If the Reds can hang around long enough to stay relevant in the National League and make a run at the playoffs, Friedl will be one of the main reasons why.
