Reds welcome back TJ Friedl as they take on the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday

Despite having spent stints on the injured list, TJ Friedl remains the Cincinnati Reds team-leader in bWAR at this juncture, and rightfully so. The lefty has shown outstanding instincts in the outfield, has swiped 6 bags without ever being caught, and he owns a 129 OPS+ - the best among the Reds group that started the season in the bigs.

Today, the Reds welcome TJ back to the lineup for the second game of their series in St. Louis, although his presence on the roster (and in the outfield) comes at the expense of Jake Fraley hitting the IL in his own right. The Reds announced those, another other moves, on Twitter this morning.

Friedl will return to the leadoff spot for this afternoon’s contest, one that will also feature rookie Andrew Abbott on the mound looking to follow-up on his electric MLB debut. I have also made it precisely one-hundred and fifty-four words without yet mentioning Elly De La Cruz, so here he is (and he’ll be once again hitting cleanup at 3B today).

The Reds offense will be tasked with taking down Miles Mikolas to make that winning thing happen again this afternoon. Otherwise, the Reds would once again slip to 7 games under the .500 mark.

First pitch is set for 2:15 PM ET. Go Reds.

Reds Lineup

Cards Lineup