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    TJ Friedl goes 2-for-3, homers versus Brewers

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    CIN Center Fielder #29
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    TJ Friedl finished 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and a sac bunt Thursday against the Brewers.

    Freidl had been 0-for-7 since being recalled when Blake Dunn got hurt. It’d be for the best if Matt McLain proved to be strong enough in center to play over Friedl, but Friedl will likely continue to start against righties for now. He’s batting .181/.259/.271 in 51 major league games this season.
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  • CIN Center Fielder #29
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    Friedl was optioned out at the beginning of June after flailing to a miserable .179/.259/.256 slash line with just two homers and five steals through his first 178 plate appearances. He appears to have gotten back on track at the Triple-A level where he hit .271/.370/.471 with three homers, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases over 81 plate appearances in 18 games. He’ll have a chance to see every day at-bats against right-handers with Blake Dunn (elbow) landing on the injured list on Sunday. He’s starting in center and batting eighth against Mitch Keller and the Pirates on Sunday afternoon.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    It’s been a rough season for Friedl, who is hitting .179/.259/.256 with two home runs and five steals in 178 plate appearances. He’s still playing solid center field, but the Reds want to see if Noelvi Marte can replicate some of that defense with far more offensive upside.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    That’s three of Cincinnati’s last five games that Friedl has sat in as the Reds are riding hot hand JJ Bleday, including two games against right-handed starters. If you were holding on to hope in medium-sized leagues that he could turn around a .184/.268/.270 start in his first 39 games, the Reds aren’t going to make it easy for you to hold him.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    There wasn’t much doubt that Friedl would be back in center tonight, but the Reds could have maybe dropped him in the lineup with him hitting just .185/.267/.274. Still, as poor as that is, it’s not like the team has much in the way of alternatives, aside from maybe just going with Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart first and second, rather than third and fourth. But that’s not Terry Francona’s style. The Reds have been giving Noelvi Marte more time in center in Triple-A of late, so Friedl might need to get things going soon.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    Friedl scored the Reds’ lone run in a game where they were stymied by Mitch Keller and were otherwise blown out by the Pirates. We’re at least starting to see the inklings of Friedl getting going after a horrific start of the season. Over his last six games, he has two home runs and three doubles. Baby steps here.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    It was his lone hit of the contest, but it gave Cincinnati a 3-2 lead in the fifth that put them ahead for good. Friedl has sat against the past five lefties the Reds have faced, but he’s hit leadoff in every game against a right-hander this season.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    He also stole a base. The go-ahead double with the Twins down 3-1 against Andrew Morris was Friedl’s first extra-base hit in 92 plate appearances this season and quadrupled his RBI total from one to four. He hadn’t had a three-RBI game since Sept. 2024.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    At least the bunt helped lead to the go-ahead run in the ninth. Noelvi Marte has to be extra bitter about how the Reds handled him given the state of the rest of the team’s outfield. Freidl is batting .137 with zero extra-base hits in 87 plate appearances. He was a productive hitter in 2023 and ’25, but his exit velocity numbers have always been pretty hideous and now he’s striking out more than ever. Most veteran hitters off to slow starts at this point of the season are very good bets to bounce back. Friedl, though, has always walked a thin line, and his return to being adequate isn’t assured.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    Friedl took Colorado reliever Jimmy Herget deep with two outs in the fourth inning for his first big fly of the spring. The 30-year-old centerfielder remains Cincinnati’s primary leadoff option ahead of middle-of-the-order forces Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez heading into the regular season, which makes him a decent OF5 option in shallow mixed leagues.
  • CIN Center Fielder #29
    Friedl and Spencer Steer are both eligible for arbitration for the first time, but Friedl is settling $200,000 less than Steer, even though he’s coming of the better season and is at 8.1 career fWAR, versus 4.5 for Steer. Freidl hit .261/.364/.378 in 685 plate appearances as the Reds’ starting center fielder and leadoff man last season. It looks like he’ll carry both roles into 2026; there was some talk of bringing in a center fielder and moving him to left, but it seems the team considers him the better center field option than newcomer JJ Bleday.

Rotoworld

  • MIL Relief Pitcher #46
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    Fansided’s Robert Murray reports that the Brewers have signed RHP Bryse Wilson.

    No word yet on the type of contract, but we’d assume it’s a major league deal. Wilson has become a full-time reliever but has a 6.52 ERA in 9 2/3 innings this season for the Phillies and Cubs. Of course, he pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings against the Brewers back on June 28th, so they must have seen something they liked then.
  • MIA Starting Pitcher #22
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    The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Marlins are likely to hold onto Sandy Alcantara at the trade deadline.

    It makes sense since the Marlins are in the midst of a 26-8 stretch that has put them right back into the thick of the playoff race. In his last seven starts, Alcantara has a 2.98 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and a 20.6 percent strikeout rate. He’s clearly been a great starter for the Marlins and, even with his limited strikeout rate, has been a useful pitcher in fantasy leagues as well. It seems like his fantasy value going forward won’t be impacted by a new team.
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    Nationals SS prospect Seaver King was placed on the minor league injured list with an oblique injury.

    King was the Nationals’ first-round pick in 2024 and began the season with a blistering start in Double-A, hitting .336/.427/.562 with five homers and five steals in 35 games. He was then promoted to Triple-A, where he has hit .275/.338/.443 with five home runs and four steals in 33 games. King played some second base this year but is primarily playing shortstop, which will create some questions about how the team can make room for him if they want him in the lineup in 2027. For now, the team doesn’t believe his oblique injury is serious, and they hope it will only keep him out for a few weeks.
  • BOS Left Fielder #19
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    Red Sox president of baseball operations Craig Breslow confirmed that Roman Anthony’s (hand/wrist) visit to a specialist confirmed the previous diagnosis and treatment plan.

    Breslow mentioned that the visit with Dr. Gary Lourie was just to confirm the rehab plan that Anthony was already on and that the severity of the injury has not changed: “Unfortunately, this is just an injury that is taking longer than expected to heal.” Anthony will continue to rehab at the Red Sox spring training complex in Florida, where, as Breslow put it, the team has all the facilities and resources he needs.
  • PIT Relief Pitcher #78
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    Pirates recalled RHP Thomas Harrington from Triple-A Indianapolis,

    Harrington was the 36th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft and a former top prospect in the Pirates’ system. Heading into last year, he was the 80th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, and the third-ranked prospect for Pittsburgh, ahead of Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows. However, the command specialist struggled at the upper levels of the minors, posting a 5.34 ERA in 96 innings at Triple-A last year and a 6.52 ERA in 58 innings this season. He has since moved into a bulk relief role, which is likely how he will be used in Pittsburgh now.
  • PIT Starting Pitcher #62
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    Pirates recalled RHP Antwone Kelly from Triple-A Indianapolis.

    Kelly is the Pirates’ 7th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and was up in the middle of June when he allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings against the Marlins. While twelve of his 17 appearances in Triple-A have been starts, he is likely up to give the Pirates some depth out of the bullpen since they got a short outing from Mitch Keller on Thursday.
  • WSH Relief Pitcher #38
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    Nationals recalled LHP Tom Cosgrove from Triple-A Rochester

    Cogrove was just acquired from the Astros on July fourth after posting a 4.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and 29/21 K/BB ratio across 29 1/3 innings in the minor leagues for the Astros. He has a 3.86 ERA in 70 career MLB innings.
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    Twins optioned OF Kyler Fedko to Triple-A St. Paul

    We know Ryan Jeffers is going to be activated today, so it seems that the Twins will carry three catchers on the roster instead of having to designate Alex Jackson for assignment. Fedko was 0-for-16 in his first 19 MLB plate appearances.
  • SF Designated Hitter #8
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    Bryce Eldridge went 2-for-3 with his eighth homer and two walks Thursday in leading the Giants past the Rockies 8-2.

    Eldridge had three of the four hardest-hit balls of the game, coming in at 106.1 mph on his homer in the fourth, 108.5 mph on a lineout in the fifth and 108.1 mph on a single in the eighth. Hopefully, it means he’s escaping the drought that saw him hit .177 with one homer in his previous 17 games. That previous homer also came against Rockies pitching.
  • SF Starting Pitcher #88
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    Carson Whisenhunt held the Rockies to two runs and three hits over 5 2/3 innings to win Thursday in his return to the majors.

    Both runs came in the second. Whisenhunt gave up a single and a walk to begin the inning, but he got a double play ball afterwards. He then got ahead of Willi Castro 1-2, only to miss with a bad changeup that was deposited into the stands in left center. Whisenhunt walked three more batters over the course of the outing, but the homer was the only damage. He’s won both of his starts for the Giants this season, and he’ll probably get a longer look in the second half. First, though, he might return to Triple-A until one or two spots open up at the trade deadline.