CINCINNATI — The leadoff hitter must be someone who sets the tone. TJ Friedl typically occupies the top spot in the Reds order, and he embodies a leadoff mindset.
"I always play with a chip on my shoulder," Friedl said. "It’s something I take pride in … being the best version of myself and giving 110% on the field."
Friedl began his "grind it out" mentality at a young age.
"Always being undersized. Never being the best player on the field. Never being the name that everybody is looking at," Friedl said.
WATCH: How TJ Friedl went from college walk-on to the Reds' leadoff hitter
Every player’s journey to the big leagues is unique, but Friedl’s was extra unlikely.
"Never getting scouted out of high school, having an opportunity to walk on at the University of Nevada, making the team my freshman year, redshirting my sophomore year because I wasn’t going to play. It was true, I wasn’t going to play. I wasn’t good enough at the time," Friedl said.
Friedl went from not good enough to elite in his redshirt sophomore year. Batting over .400, he was one of the biggest surprises in the college baseball world.
"I took it as like a challenge," Friedl said.
A challenge he dominated. Friedl should have been a home run pick in the 2016 MLB draft.
"That was just a big mix-up, from my understanding," Friedl said.
According to Major League Baseball’s draft eligibility rules, players attending four-year colleges are eligible to be drafted after three years of school.
"When scouts came to Nevada, they get like a printout of the roster and they see all the numbers and stuff, and for me it just said sophomore instead of redshirt sophomore," Friedl said. "I found this out after … I just think it was like one big confusion until someone was like, he could have been draft eligible. He’s a redshirt sophomore, so it’s his third year."
As a redshirt sophomore, Friedl was academically a junior, meaning that he qualified to be draft-eligible. A clerical error prevented Friedl from hearing his name called.
Once the mistake was realized, almost every MLB organization was interested. Friedl had the rare opportunity to choose where he wanted to sign as a free agent. Friedl liked the Reds' pitch and saw a path through Cincinnati’s farm system, but it was a trip to Great American Ball Park for a game that sealed the deal.
"I kind of felt that buzz," Friedl said. "This place is awesome. How can I get back here as soon as possible?"
Friedl signed with the Reds and then got to work, spending about five seasons in the minors. An unlikely journey that ultimately landed Friedl in The Show. The universe gave Friedl a sign that made him realize he had made it.
"In September, I think, when they were making a playoff push in 2021, I got called up," Friedl said. "For me, when I landed in Cincinnati airport, I was riding — not the escalator, but that moving thing — to go to baggage claim. I see a Friedl jersey on the little thing. I look up and it was my mom … for me it was like a special moment because it was like, hey, we are here together."
The woman who helped raise the tough-minded lead-off hitter was the first to greet him in his Major League city. Now, Friedl is a veteran leader in the Reds lineup.
"It’s something that I never take for granted. Every time I take center field, every day I take a moment. I bend down … I touch the grass and just kind of feel like the present moment of like 'I’m here,'" Friedl said.
And the Reds are a better team when TJ Friedl is there.
