Eastern Kentucky University Athletics

Friedrich played for coach Elvis Dominguez’ EKU baseball team from 2006-08 where he was a three-time All-America pitcher and first team All-OVC selection.  Other awards won by Friedrich were the 2008 OVC Pitcher of the Year, 2006 OVC Rookie of the Year and a two-year choice on the All-OVC tournament team. As a freshman at EKU, he went 10-2 on the mound with a 1.98 ERA, striking out 118 batters in 82 innings.  As a sophomore, he was 5-4 with a 2.09 ERA and struck out 101 batters. His final year at Eastern, his junior season, he compiled a 5-1 record with a 1.43 ERA while striking out 108 batters in 81 and two-thirds innings.  Friedrich finished his EKU career with a 20-7 record, 1.83 ERA, striking out 12 batters for every nine innings pitched.  In 2008, he was the 25th pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Colorado Rockies. In 2010, he was a Futures Game selection from Tulsa of the Texas League and in 2011 was a Mid-Season All-Star for Tulsa. In three seasons of Major League play with the Rockies, he pitched in 100 games, starting 19 of those.  In 2015, he pitched out of the bullpen for the Rockies, appearing in 68 games, 22nd most in the major leagues that year, striking out 45 in 58 innings of work.  He was signed in March by the San Diego Padres and assigned to El Paso in the Padres’ Extended Spring Training before getting a call to the “Big Show” in May.  He has been a fixture in San Diego’s rotation most of the year and finished this season with a 5-11 record and a 4.66 ERA, striking out 97 in 132 and two-thirds innings of work.