Undrafted Dragons outfielder hits free agent home run

Friedl and a mix of returning players, call-ups from rookie ball and new signees will make up the 18th edition of the Dragons. Their Midwest League (Class A) minor-league season begins at 7 p.m. Thursday against the Lake County Captains (Indians) at Fifth Third Field. Friday’s game will wrap up the brief two-game series, followed by games at Lake County on Saturday and Sunday.

Friedl is generously listed as 5 feet 10, 170 pounds. He doesn’t have Billy Hamilton speed, but he’s in that zip code of burners. He put up lofty numbers in college but didn’t think he’d be draft eligible. Collegiate players must be a combination of a certain age and seasons played to be eligible for Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.

“I didn’t know I was draft eligible,” Friedl recalled. “It was close to the draft at that point and I didn’t have an agent. It would be a lot and hectic to try and figure out, so I put it off and said no thank you.”

Sure enough, more than 1,216 players through 40 rounds were chosen, but not Friedl. That all changed when he toured with Team USA for a month to Taiwan, Japan and Cuba. Scouts quickly locked into the speedster who also had surprising pop in his bat. Multiple clubs pursued him as a free agent.

The Reds won out, offering a reported $750,000, which was typical second-round signing pay. But that didn’t mean Friedl was sold.

“I was in Taiwan and I literally Facetimed my (Nevada) coach,” he said. “I was like, hey, here’s the deal and here’s what’s happening. What do you think? He said, if you don’t sign that contract I’ll fly out to Cincinnati and sign it right now. Once I got that OK from him it was a big weight lifted off my shoulder.”

The payoff was immediate. Looking for an inside pitch (he guessed an outside pitch was shaken off), Friedl homered in his first at-bat last season with the Billings (Mont.) Mustangs in rookie ball. Then he did it again his second at-bat.

That sudden surge would appear again in his first spring training at-bat with the Reds at Arizona: home run.

The odds of that happening again in Thursday’s opener are too great to consider. But he’s already overcome a lot of other obstacles just to open the season here.

“My mom and dad always say, have you pinched yourself yet?” Friedl said. “Have you woke up from your dream? I’ve always felt, I can’t believe this is real.”

• Right-hander Tony Santillan (Arlington, Texas) is the Dragons’ opening-day starting pitcher. He split time at Billings and Dayton last season and has topped out at 101 mph with his heater.

“It’s just a number,” he said. “My job is to pitch and get guys out. If I throw 101 and can’t get guys out, it means nothing.”

• This is the 116th season for minor-league baseball and 71st for the Midwest League. The ML features Eastern and Western divisions, eight teams each.

Eastern Division: Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods (Rays), Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps (Padres), Great Lakes (Ohio) Loons (Dodgers), Lake County (Ohio) Captains (Indians), Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts (Blue Jays), South Bend (Ind.) Cubs (Cubs), West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers) and the Dragons.

Western Division: Beloit (Wisc.) Snappers (A’s), Burlington (Iowa) Bees (Angels), Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Kernels (Twins), Clinton (Iowa) LumberKings (Mariners), Kane County (Ill.) Cougars (Diamondbacks), Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs (Cardinals), Quad Cities (Iowa) River Bandits (Astros) and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers).

• All Midwest League players will make a season-long salute to former league president George Spelius by wearing a “GHS” patch on their left uniform sleeve. Spelius ended a 28-year run as the ML president following the 2014 season. He died this past offseason.

TODAY’S GAME

Lake County at Dayton, 7 p.m.

WONE-AM (980), CW Ch. 26.1, Spectrum Ch. 13 and 1013, Direct TV and DISH Ch. 26