Christian Louis Friedrich (born July 8, 1987) is a minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 in the Colorado Rockies

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...

 organization.

Friedrich attended Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...

, where he played for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

EKU fields teams in 15 varsity sports . The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in Division I of the NCAA , having been a part of the conference since its inception in 1948...

 baseball team. He was named a Baseball America

Baseball America

Baseball America is a magazine which covers baseball at every level, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in high school, college, Japan, and the minor leagues. It is currently published in the form of a bi-weekly newspaper, five annual reference book titles, a weekly podcast, and a...

Freshman All-American in 2006. He was also named a second-team All-American in 2008.

Friedrich was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 1st round (25th overall) of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft

2008 Major League Baseball Draft

The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008.-First round selections:* Did not sign...

. Baseball America ranked Friedrich as the #95 best prospect in baseball prior to the 2009 season and the 33rd best prior to the 2010 season.

The Rockies added Friedrich to their 40 man roster after the 2011 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft

Rule 5 draft

The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor league affiliate teams when other teams would be willing to...

.

External links