Amid injury-plagued '24, Friedl's 1st slam a bright spot

MIAMI -- With one swing in the top of the seventh inning, TJ Friedl changed the entire tenor of the Reds’ 6-4 loss to the Marlins on Wednesday night.

Until Friedl stepped to the plate, with two outs and bases loaded, Cincinnati was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position on the night and trailing, 6-0, after Miami posted a five-run first inning (which included a solo homer and a grand slam).

Friedl himself was 0-for-2 with a third-inning walk. His luck, though, was about to change. Friedl took an 84 mph slider in the middle of the zone for a strike, then fouled off an up-and-away 94.4 mph four-seam fastball.

In an 0-2 hole, what Friedl did with the next pitch could change the game, or it could end the inning and the Reds’ rally attempt.

Of course, it did the former. Friedl took the 94.9 mph fastball offering from Marlins reliever Andrew Nardi and sent it soaring 396 feet to right-center field, per Statcast, the second-longest homer Friedl has hit this season. (He hit a 429-foot homer on June 5 in Colorado.)

“That pitcher for the Marlins is really tough on left-handed hitters,” manager David Bell said. “That was a good pitch -- it was a fastball up, maybe out of the zone. TJ has the ability to do that. He has such a short, quick swing and got on top of that pitch. Not many guys can do that. Good fastball, just had a perfect swing on it.”

Friedl didn’t know the ball had even left the park until he was nearly to second base.

“Obviously I was ecstatic, but I think, you know, I turned and looked at [coach Collin Cowgill] at first base, and [then] I looked back and I saw the ball was on the field, and I saw [Jesús] Sánchez grabbing and throwing it in,” Friedl said, “so then I was kind of confused. So I put my head down and started running, and then I saw the umpires calling for a home run.

“Obviously, like, once I kind of saw it hit that back wall there, I was obviously really stoked. [I'm] just trying to make plays for the team and kind of [got] us back in the game there.”

It was Friedl’s first career grand slam, and while it didn’t reverse the damage done against starter Andrew Abbott (six runs on six hits, three of them homers, and three walks), it ensured the Reds wouldn’t be shut out and gave them some hope of a comeback.

Better yet, the slam was a sign of Friedl’s return to regular play. The outfielder has played just 38 games around three IL stints -- a right wrist fracture, a left thumb fracture and a right hamstring strain -- that have kept him on the injured list for over 90 days this season.

“For me, it kills me when I can't be on the field helping this team,” Friedl said. “Every time I come back, I just want to make an impact the best I can and help the team in any way that I can. So whenever I'm out there on the field -- whether it's in the outfield or at the plate, whatever it is -- all I want to do is help the team win. So, every chance I get, I'm gonna try and make that happen.”

The season, with all its setbacks, has been a harsh contrast for Friedl. In 2023, he played 138 games and led the Reds’ qualified players in average (.279) while hitting the second-most homers on the team (18) behind only Jonathan India (23).

Of course, there’s plenty more of the season left for Friedl to make an impact. With 48 games left to go, the Reds (55-59) are 5 1/2 games out of the third NL Wild Card spot.

“We miss TJ when he's not not with us, for sure,” Bell said. “But we have a long way to go. We have a couple months -- plus, hopefully -- and TJ is gonna be a big part of that. So he's still -- even though he missed some of the year, it's far from over and he can make the most of it still.”