Chris Murray

cmurray@rgj.com

The Wolf Pack baseball team lost its top returning player as TJ Friedl, an outfielder who came out of relative anonymity in 2015 to make Team USA, signed a record-breaking deal with the Cincinnati Reds.

Friedl, a redshirt sophomore, signed Thursday for a $735,000 bonus, the largest ever for a domestic non-drafted free agent, according to Baseball America. The bonus is believed to be the third largest in Wolf Pack history behind pitchers Braden Shipley ($2.25 million in 2013 with Arizona) and Darrell Rasner ($800,000 in 2002 with Montreal). Friedl wasn't selected in June’s draft but his signing bonus was the equivalent of the 85th pick in the draft.

“He’s kept me in the loop the whole summer,” Wolf Pack head coach T.J. Bruce said. “He and his family have been really transparent. We’re big TJ Friedl fans and now we’re big Cincinnati Reds fans.”

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound center fielder played sparingly as a freshman in 2013 and redshirted in 2014 due to the depth in the Wolf Pack’s outfield. In 2015, he hit a team-high .401, becoming the first Wolf Pack player since 2001 to hit over .400. He had 89 hits, 68 runs and 35 RBIs. Friedl ranked second in the nation in triples, fourth in runs and 11th in batting average. The speedy lefty also stole 13 bases.

“His work ethic and his determination and his resiliency and his character are all off the charts,” said Bruce, who took over the program last June. “The more and more I learned about our players, TJ just kept rising to the top in every aspect, off the field, on the field, in the classroom. It was a tribute to his character and I expect him to do big things in the future.”

Friedl, originally a walk-on at Nevada, was invited to Team USA’s training camp in late June. He was one of 24 players to make the team that traveled to Taiwan, Chinese Taipei and Japan for a series of international friendlies. Friedl hit .290 with a .362 on-base percentage and .452 slugging mark. That helped him go from undrafted two months ago to earning the largest signing bonus ever for a Wolf Pack position player.

“I don’t know what we would have been without him quite frankly,” Team USA coach and Oregon head coach George Horton told Baseball American. “He was a catalyst offensively, defensively, emotionally.”

Players typically must wait until their junior season before being draft eligible but since Friedl redshirted as a sophomore he was eligible to sign with a pro team because he was three years out of high school.

The signing leaves a big hole atop the Wolf Pack’s lineup. Nevada, which finished second in the Mountain West last season and advanced to the conference tournament title game, must replace five of its eight starting position players. Friedl is the sixth Pack players to sign with a pro team this offseason, joining Miles Mastrobuoni (Rays), Trenton Brooks (Rays), Justin Hazard (Twins), Sam Held (Nationals) and Christian Stolo (Dodgers).

The Wolf Pack will add 18 players to its roster next season, including 13 from the high school level. It will make Nevada a young team but one where there will be plenty of opportunities for players to win starting job, just like Friedl did last season before his quick ascension to signing a pro contract.

“It’s all about opportunity and that’s the biggest thing I presented to TJ,” Bruce said. “He has such an incredible opportunity with an incredible origination and it was one he couldn’t pass up. It’s same thing with our players that are coming to the University of Nevada, where we’re so good academically, we win a lot of games and we get our guys ready for the professional level.”