Minor League Baseball and the Florida State League have announced the league’s Player of the Month award for April and taking home those honors was Daytona Tortugas slugger Jacob Friend.
The Cincinnati Reds prospect was the club’s 6th round pick in the 2024 draft out of Davidson. After struggling to find many hits last season – he hit just .191 with Daytona in 67 games, but did walk nearly as often as he struck out and showed a little bit of power – this season has been different in a big way. In 22 games this year he’s already matched the number of hits he had in 67 games with the Tortugas last season.
In April he played in 19 games and hit for a .329 batting average, had a .435 on-base percentage, and he had a .757 slugging percentage. Of his 23 hits in the month, 16 of them were extra-base hits. He scored 19 runs, had 17 RBI, and he even went 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts.
He led the league in OPS during April by nearly 200 points. Friend also led the league in slugging percentage and extra-base hits, was 2nd in the league in home runs and doubles, 3rd in triples, 4th in batting average and on-base percentage, was 6th in RBI, and he was 7th in hits.
His production hasn’t picky, either. The left-handed hitter has crushed both lefties and righties this season. He’s hitting .333/.442/.698 against right-handed pitching. In his 23 plate appearances against left-handed pitching he’s put up a line of .316/.435/.737. That’s an OPS of 1.140 and 1.172 for each group.
He hasn’t slowed down in his three games so far in May, either. He’s picked up four hits in 12 at-bats. One of those hits is a double, and he’s added two walks in those three games.
While the award is almost always going to be voted on based on a players offensive performance, Friend was providing Daytona with some defensive value, too. He’s started 12 games as the team’s catcher, but he’s also played some first base, left field, right field, and designated hitter so far this season.
You can see his career stats here.