'He makes the lineup better': Friedl returns as Reds drop series

CINCINNATI -- It was almost cruel for TJ Friedl to work all the way back from a right wrist fracture in Spring Training only to break his left thumb during the sixth game after his return.

Way ahead of schedule, the Reds center fielder was activated from the injured list on Wednesday. Friedl was back in his familiar leadoff spot against the Cardinals.

"You get a little taste of it and it’s like, ‘All right, I’m back on the field with my guys.’ And [then] you get hit and you’re out for another two weeks," Friedl said before the game. "It’s what we do. It’s what we live for. When you’re here or in the clubhouse or in the dugout -- it’s like an itch. I need to get out there and I need to play."

Friedl's return did not pay immediate dividends as the Reds lost, 5-3, to St. Louis at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati (24-32) dropped the last two games of the three game series.

The Reds, who snapped their four-game win streak Tuesday, missed an opportunity to win a series against a National League Central rival.

“We still have a lot of season left. We’re working on it, of course," said starting pitcher Frankie Montas, who gave up three earned runs and six hits over six innings.

Friedl went 0-for-3 with two walks. Batting in the bottom of the ninth, he represented the tying run when he walked with two outs. He was out at second base on Elly De La Cruz's fielder's choice grounder to end the game.

“I feel like he makes the lineup better, for sure," Montas said of Friedl. "He’s a player with a lot of skills. He gets on base. That’s what we need right now.”

On May 12 at San Francisco, Friedl was hit on the left thumb by a Kyle Harrison fastball. Diagnosed with a fracture the following day, he was slated to miss around five weeks.

Friedl, who already fractured his right wrist trying to make a catch in a March 16 Spring Training game, beat the timetable for his second return by almost three weeks.

"Obviously with any kind of a fracture, they’re going to say 4-6 weeks, because that’s the standard mark for a fracture," Friedl said.

"Our players are doing a great job of getting back quicker," Reds manager David Bell said. "A lot of it has to do with everything they can control until their body parts heals up. In TJ’s case, it was keeping his legs in great shape. A lot of it has to do with how you think and his desire to be back out. The process went very fast."

In the past couple of days, Friedl tested his thumb more intensely by hitting against a velocity pitching machine, and in live at-bats against assistant pitching coach Alon Leichman.

Doctors basically told Friedl his thumb wouldn't get worse from swinging a bat. The only risk he faces would be from another trauma, like being hit by a pitch or getting the thumb slammed in a car door.

The Reds and Friedl hope this time is the last time he has to bounce back this year from an injury.

"I never see TJ changing," Bell said. "I don’t see any circumstances changing who he is. He knows exactly who he is and what he’s here for. TJ is here to win. He’s here to be the best player he can be, the best teammate he can be, to be on the field. Even when he’s not on the field, it doesn’t change a thing about his personality. He’s still a big part of the team, part of the clubhouse, in the dugout, all of that. Nothing ever changes. It’s a real gift that he has."

Friedl consulted with former teammate Nick Senzel, who suffered a broken right thumb on Opening Day with the Nationals in an accident at Great American Ball Park. Senzel missed just over two weeks.

In Arizona, Friedl also spoke with former Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who is now with the Diamondbacks. Suárez was hit by a pitch in 2018 while with Cincinnati and returned from a broken right thumb in less than three weeks. The discussions were about how they did their rehab and when they resumed swinging a bat.

"Just so I had something to compare it to, and I kind of took that and made it my own with the recovery process," Friedl said. "I did whatever I could every day. For two weeks, when you’re on the IL, you literally have nothing to do besides find a way to get healthy and get back. I was doing everything I can to get myself back on the field."