TJ Friedl DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate in Saturday's 12-1 win over the Twins. The 29-year-old homered for the second straight game and has now gone 7-for-8 against Twins pitchers the last two days, tallying five RBI and four runs scored in the process. Now the author of a .233-13-53-34-9 line through 74 games played, one wonders what that line could have looked like had he been able to stay healthy all season long. With his strong contact rate and low strikeout rate, he could still finish the season with a flurry of production.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored in Friday's 8-4 win over the Twins. It has been a season marred by injury for the 29-year-old but he's showing signs of life in September, hitting .262 with a pair of home runs, 11 RBI, six runs scored, and two stolen bases in 12 games. For the season, the left-handed hitter has a .221-12-51-32-9 line with a .302 wOBA and 87 wRC+. Friedl still boasts an 83.2% contact rate and a better-than-average strikeout rate of 16.0%, so there's hope he can finish strong and come into 2025 as a healthy multi-category contributor for fantasy.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl is back in center field and is batting cleanup on Monday against the Atlanta Braves and right-hander Charlie Morton at Truist Park for the series opener. Friedl left Saturday's game early against the New York Mets after he was experiencing shortness of breath. He sat out of the series finale on Sunday but is apparently feeling much better to begin a new week. Friedl has only faced Morton one time in his career and did not record a hit. The 29-year-old has only played in 68 games with the Reds in his fourth year in the big leagues in 2024 due to various ailments. In that short time, he's provided 11 home runs, 46 RBI and eight stolen bases while slashing .218/.300/.385 with a career-worst .685 OPS. Friedl has looked better in seven games in September, going 6-for-23 (.261) with a homer, double, six RBI and a steal.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl (chest) will remain sidelined on Sunday as the Reds conclude a series with the New York Mets. Friedl left Saturday's game early after experiencing shortness of breath. As a precaution, he was taken to the hospital and thankfully nothing serious was detected. However, out of precautionary measures, the outfielder will take a seat on Sunday which will open up center field for Will Benson. Fantasy managers should pay attention to the 29-year-old's status ahead of the new week as he could miss a few more games. Benson is worth a look in DFS against the Mets as he will bat in the eight-hole and face Mets right-hander Luis Severino who enters Sunday with a 3.84 ERA.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl will head to the bench with a left-hander on the mound on Friday against the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Stuart Fairchild will handle center-field duties and will bat sixth against Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter. Not only is Friedl hitless in 10 at-bats over his last three games, but he's hitting .233 (10-for-43) with only one of his 10 home runs on the season against southpaws. Fairchild is hitting .273 with two RBI in 11 career at-bats against Falter and has hit .278 (30-for-108) with five of his eight long balls in 2024 against lefties. Still, Fairchild is a relatively unimpressive low-upside DFS play with only eight home runs, 29 RBI and 13 steals on the year while hitting .218 in 206 total at-bats.