Cincinnati Reds Outfielder TJ Friedl Should Be a National League All-Star

Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl should be a National League All-Star this season.

He has had a monster year for Cincinnati. He currently ranks third in the National League in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) behind Pete Crow-Armstrong from the Cubs and Andy Pages from the Dodgers. 

No other center fielder is within 30 points of his on-base percentage (.383). He’s nine points ahead of Pages in batting average, and only Crow-Armstrong has a better wRC+.

Friedl has been one of the best parts of the Reds lineup this year. As much as the number two spot in the order has been a huge concern, the lead-off spot has not.

Reds manager Terry Francona challenged Friedl to get on base at least twice in every game he plays and he has actually done that in more games (34) than not (31).

Friedl has also excelled when leading off an inning. As the first batter of any given inning, he is 36% better than the average hitter in MLB in that scenario. He gets on base 37% of the time has almost as many walks (13) as strikeouts (15).

Friedl also has elite plate discipline. He is in the top-2% of MLB in laying off pitches outside the strike zone.

While Elly De La Cruz has the star power and Andrew Abbott has the case to be a pitcher for the National League, Friedl should be on the NL All Star bench and man center field toward the back half of the Mid-Summer Classic.