By C. TRENT ROSECRANS The Athletic
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CINCINNATI — After watching the Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich drop a surprise squeeze bunt against his Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, TJ Friedl worked on bunting for squeeze before Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox.

“I was talking to (first-base coach Collin Cowgill) earlier today about the Yelich play in Milwaukee and how it’s a really heads-up play keeping guys on their toes,” Friedl said following the Reds’ 5-2 victory over the Red Sox at Great American Ball Park.

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Earlier this year, Friedl practiced making catches at the wall before one game and executed one that night. Another time he and the team worked on their relay throws and he ended up with an assist that day.

So with that background, he shouldn’t have been surprised when he came to the plate with runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh with the Reds holding a one-run lead.

The Red Sox, trailing 3-2, pulled starter Kutter Crawford following Luke Maile’s double that put Santiago Espinal at third base. As lefty Cam Booser warmed up, Friedl’s mind went to Yelich and his pregame work.

On third, Espinal was also thinking Friedl, who led all of baseball with 17 bunt hits last season, was thinking bunt. And even Maile, who recorded his first stolen base of the season and seventh of his nine-year big-league career in the team’s last game, was thinking ahead to what could happen if Friedl laid down a bunt.

“I know TJ is a very aggressive hitter and he’s a great bunter too, so I was thinking for sure he was going to do something on the first pitch,” Espinal said.

Maile, in his second year with the Reds, said he too was thinking that Friedl could lay down a bunt.

“Honestly, it’s one of the great things about playing consecutive years with guys is that it’s something I’m enjoying more this year that you kind of have a feel for when a guy like TJ is going to make a play like that and so you can anticipate it,” Maile said.

Reds manager David Bell said the decision to bunt was all Friedl’s.

“It’s part of his game, he’s a good bunter,” Bell said. “Our players want to understand the situations and what it takes to win games and score runs.”

For Friedl, it wasn’t just about bunting but where to bunt.

“If I’m going to put this down, I want to make sure I make the pitcher make a decision,” Friedl said. “I want him to be the one to make the decision instead of the first baseman or whatever. I got a slider, a good pitch to get down, and I tried to deaden it right in the middle there and make them make a play.”

It’s not as if the Red Sox didn’t know Friedl could bunt, either. Last year Friedl’s 17 bunt hits were six more than the Red Sox have in 2023 and 2024 combined, so his ability is at the top of every scouting report, especially against left-handed pitchers.

Even with the infield in on the corners, Friedl put the bunt exactly where he wanted, where only Booser had a play.

With a good idea that Friedl would bunt, Espinal got a good jump and Booser had to hurry his throw, which was wide past catcher Connor Wong, scoring Espinal easily.

By the time Espinal scored, Maile hit third base nearly at the same time Espinal scored. He saw the ball and realized he could score easily.

“I’m capable of doing a whole bunch of cool stuff when the ball is rattling around the infield, I guess,” Maile said.

As Friedl ran through first base, he could hear from the crowd that Espinal had scored, and when he looked back, he saw the team’s catcher crossing the plate.

“Two is better than one,” said Friedl, who received only one RBI. “I’ll take that.”

That type of aggressive base running has been a hallmark of the new-look Reds. It doesn’t always work — the next inning Jonathan India was thrown out at third trying to advance from first on a single and Espinal was thrown out at the plate — but it works enough to be more than worth it.

While Maile saw it firsthand last year, Espinal was traded to the team in the final week of spring training and immediately noticed just how fast everyone in the Reds lineup is and quickly caught on to the team’s aggressive style.

“When I was on another team, I never saw a team that can run so much as this one — everyone runs, everyone steals,” Espinal said.

Even Maile, who has the slowest sprint speed of any current Reds player, according to MLB’s Statcast Sprint Speed ratings (although, his 25.7 feet per second nearly laps the 22.3 put up by Mike Ford), is getting in on the action.

While Maile will rarely be confused for Elly De La Cruz, the self-proclaimed fastest man in the world, De La Cruz laughed when it was pointed out that he has yet to score from second on a bunt like Willie Mays Hayes in “Major League.”

“He’s faster than me,” De La Cruz said, tongue firmly in his cheek.

But Maile being able to score there wasn’t a joke, it’s part of who the Reds are.

“In his mind he was ready to score and anticipating if they happened to throw it away or maybe it was just a little bit off, he was putting himself in position,” Bell said. “You have to be able to get a good read and go on contact if he doesn’t bunt. But if he does, it almost turns into a squeeze play or safety squeeze without actually putting it on. Our guys are really good about anticipating that.”