Friedl keeps a positive interstate of mind

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Interstate 71 between Cincinnati and Louisville gets desolate and offers time for introspection as the city and suburbs turn into rural stretches. Like many players, Reds outfielder TJ Friedl made the drive on that lonely highway following a demotion to the organization's Triple-A club.

Friedl had five big league callups in 2022 and was sent back to Louisville four times.

“You can take those moments one of two ways," Friedl said. "You can take that drive down 71 and have ‘doubt, doubt, doubt’ in your head and say, ‘I’m not enough,’ or that I wasn’t doing well enough. For me personally, I took every one of those drives as an opportunity to reflect on my time up there and what I have to work on in Louisville to get another opportunity to come back up."

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Going back to Cincinnati was always a better trip.

“That’s a little bit more exciting. It never got old," Friedl said with a laugh.

Friedl, 27, posted a slash line of .240/.314/.436 in 72 games in the big leagues last season. It was the fifth callup when things started clicking. He was recalled from Louisville on Aug. 16 and didn't have to go back while batting .267 with an .888 OPS, eight home runs and three triples over his final 43 games.

Counting his callup in September 2021, Friedl has had six big league stints for the Reds.

“You could just see a maturity. He was up and down a lot," Louisville manager Pat Kelly said. "There were days I’d call him in at 4 o’clock and say, “You have to be up there for tonight’s game,’ or call him and he’d go up on an off day. He understood the process."

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Said Reds manager David Bell: "TJ handled going to Triple-A the right way. He didn’t like it. He didn’t accept it, but he made the most of it and it made him just more determined to come back and stay the next time."

What made the most recent promotion stick? A few adjustments and working with Louisville hitting coach Alex Pelaez. Friedl went to a more open stance with a slight leg kick. He also stopped trying to lift the ball for homers and showed the willingness to bunt.

There were also fixes Friedl made with his mentality in the batter's box.

"I kind of changed my mind set to be more aggressive and hunting my pitch and committing to my pitch," Friedl said. "I just know there were days I was hitting up there, and I’d get the pitch I was looking for, and I just wasn’t ready for it in that moment. … In that first half, I don’t think I was able to prove myself and show who I really was."

When Friedl returned to the Majors in August, he got to work with then-hitting coach Alan Zinter and assistant hitting coach Joel McKeithan, who was since promoted in the offseason to the main job.

“I said, ‘Hey, guys, this is where I’m at now. Here’s the new drills I am working on.’” Friedl said. “They rolled with it right away. We were able to get things done.”

A left-handed hitter, Friedl is vying for a spot on the 2023 Opening Day roster, but also something potentially more significant. With Nick Senzel looking less and less likely to return from a toe injury in time, Cincinnati has an opening in center field. Friedl, Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild are among the candidates.

Helping Friedl is that he has had some success hitting vs. left-handed pitching. Against righties, he's a .237 hitter with a .722 OPS in 82 games for his career. Against lefties, he’s a .333 hitter with a 1.054 OPS in 23 games.

That was visible during Tuesday vs. the Giants. Facing lefty Kyle Harrison, Friedl missed with a first-pitch bunt attempt. Later in the plate appearance, on a 2-2 count, he slugged a three-run homer to right field.

"He looks good. He’s had tough at-bats against left-handers," Bell said.

In the offseason, Friedl was able to keep working on the approach that worked for him.

"I wanted to maintain that, and I didn’t want to change anything. I liked where I was at," he said. “It was all keeping that feeling of where I was at and bringing it into this year.”

If it remains successful, Friedl could be spared another drive down I-71 South.