The Cincinnati Reds have placed outfielder TJ Friedl on the 10-day injured list. The outfielder left the game in Boston on May 30th after straining his hamstring. Cincinnati hoped he would only miss a day or two, but three days later he wasn’t at the point where it was going to work out and the team moved him to the injured list rather than continuing to play with a short roster.
This marks the second time in the last month that TJ Friedl has been placed on the injured list after missing a handful of games while waiting things out to see if a move wouldn’t need to be made. In both cases the team wound up delaying the inevitable.
Friedl is being replaced on the roster by T.J. Hopkins. To make room on the 40-man roster, the team placed Nick Lodolo on the 60-day injured list. There’s a lot to unravel here.
Let’s start with outfielder T.J. Hopkins. He’s been outstanding this season for Triple-A Louisville. He’s hit .341/.437/.540 with 14 doubles and seven home runs in 207 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter has 28 walks and 51 strikeouts on the season…. but he’s been doing a much better job than that of late.
Since the start of May he has 20 walks and 24 strikeouts. Since May 14th he’s got 11 walks and 11 strikeouts, and he’s hit .403/.493/.548 in 73 plate appearances during that span. His OPS against right-handed pitching this season is .945. He’s done even better against lefties, posting a 1.032 OPS. It’s only been two months, but Hopkins has busted out this year. You can see his career stats here.
As for the Nick Lodolo move… it means that he’s going to be out for a while. The earliest date he can return from the injured list is July 13th. That’s during the All-Star break. The team returns to the field on the 14th against Milwaukee.
I think we all knew Lodolo was going to be out for a while. They need to get Hopkins in the lineup instead of Benson.
I’m sure Benson is in because of the right handed pitcher.
Too bad for Nick. Pretty much a wasted season for him. I hope TJ Friedl can pick up where he left off when he returns. He is now one of my favorite players.
Hoping he is able to return healthy in July and maybe have a good 2nd half. Was really thinking this would be his year to take the lead of the rotation. Yes some are going to be what about Huner Greene. I like Lodolo a little bit better. Though I will admit Greene has made some nice progress his last 3 starts.
What an outstanding move by the Reds management. (Although this move could have been made sooner) T.J. Hopkins is going to go supernova in the majors and win NL ROY.
Opens up a huge opportunity for Williamson, and maybe Abbott.
Ashcraft is currently the one pitching the worst in the rotation but he’s not going anywhere (and shouldn’t) so I don’t know who I’d bring Abbott up for at this moment.
Right on Doc! Now is the time for Williams to show he deserves to be in the majors, a great opportunity for him. Abbott might be up sooner than thought if Ashcroft continues to struggle, though they’ll give him the opportunity to work through his woes–he’s earned that much.
Pumped for Hopkins! Much deserved promotion and I hope he runs with the opportunity. Could be an upgrade over Fairchild after Friedl returns
Lodolo returning with Antone post All star break for a push for .500 or better?
Id bet there’s little to zero chance Antone is back post all star break if ever. Had another set back last week and shut down again
Will Hopkins actually play, or will it continue to be the Stuart Fairchild show?
They’ll want to see if he can handle MLB pitching. I think he’ll have the opportunity to show he can stick, being that Benson is floundering and Fraley and Fairchild are just solid backups.
Delighted that Hopkins finally got promoted. Hope he gets a legit shot to show what he can do.
On one hand, it’s a real bummer Lodolo is going to be out so long.
On the other hand, it shows how serious the injury was he was dealing with, and helps explain why he suddenly started pitching so poorly. If it’s going to take a little more than another month to get the real Lodolo back and healthy, I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to wait.
Yes – wonder how serious this is. Good news – not an arm injury, bad news – will it require surgery/leg joint surgery not good.
Obviously was thinking this was the EDLC debut, and can only hope he’s under strict supervision to work on some very discrete part of his game – CES may need a bit more general experience in the field, but EDLC doesn’t need to pass any more arbitrary goals/numbers games.
Now that Newman’s on a hot streak, they’ll want to see how long it lasts and how high he flies before the trade deadline. If he comes down to earth, Barrero will get his reps to see if he can raise his trade value. With Votto set to “rehab” at AAA soon, I’m not sure we’ll see either CES or EDLC until after the trade deadline (Aug. 1). That would still give them two months in the Show this season. Though, if the team starts to sputter…
What still puzzles me is why it takes several days of playing short-handed with the “wait and see” approach. Hammy’s are tricky. Full stop. I guess this is one of the times we just don’t know about the inside discussions, right? 😮
Yep and yep.. I wonder if other organizations do this. Seems like reds do this alot. Friedl from sounds of it should of been IL before this series.
Will this give EDLC a chance to work n the OF while being held back n AAA?? Clearly Cincy needs a quality CF & EDLC is the closest thing to a young Eric Davis since – Eric Davis! Not much more to prove AB n AAA; might as well b working on a position change IF they’re going to keep him down
I’m all for De La Cruz playing CF. Feel free to talk them into it. You have my support. 🙂
This, btw, is the answer to so many of the Reds issues. EDLC is a poor defensive ss, but would make a hulluva CF.
The darn clubhouse figured it out by giving him #44, so time to just make that freaking happen.
On no planet is he a poor defensive shortstop.
This is just one play that I noticed tonight so that in itself doesn’t mean much but I did see EDLC seem to have a hard time getting down on a ball in the whole and it got through. He has a big long tall body to have to get down all of the time. I’m still #CFEDLC
Personally I think De La Cruz would be a pretty good SS. I just think he’d be an even better CF. Gold Glove type.
Happy for Hopkins. I had wanted him to be protected over the offseason because I thought he’d been on a really good trajectory as a player. Glad to see he’s getting his chance now.
Not sure where I saw it, but kudos to the guy who commented here or RedZone who noted that Friedl will be added to the dl a week or so after injury bc it is Reds policy to play a man down whenever we can….
Our front office is just flat out a bunch of ass clowns, ass hats, or just flat out asses for that prediction to come true. But we all knew it would, so reckon we all are in the dumb ass category for still following this team