New York Yankees’ Clint Frazier explains why he has been wearing a mask on the field

New York Yankees, Clint Frazier
Feb 22, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Clint Frazier (77) runs to first on a hit during the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier has been the only player in the team to consistently wear a mask while performing all baseball activities, so far. According to what he explained to reporters during a conference call, he’s doing it to protect himself and his teammates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frazier, one of the Yankees’ brightest young players, says he wants to set an example and get more people to wear masks in the future.

“I’m going to try to do it as much as I can,” Frazier said. “Hopefully someone sees it and hopefully they do it too.”
Mike Trout, perhaps the game’s biggest star, is among the few big leaguers to wear a mask on the field.

Protecting the Yankees players and himself

Upon arriving to the New York Yankees’ training camp, Frazier showed up with a surgical mask but has then switched to a more comfortable, breathable one. He even wore it on the plate in Sunday’s intrasquad action and is also considering wearing it while patrolling the outfield.

The young thumper says that it hasn’t been hard at all, although he said it felt a little weird at the beginning. He explained he wants to wear it during the regular season.

“There’s a lot of people that have been impacted in a way” by the virus, Frazier said. “There are people in our organization that I’m trying to be respectful toward and I’m just trying to overall do the best part that I can and make sure that our team does stay healthy.”

So far, three members of the New York Yankees have been diagnosed with coronavirus: Aroldis Chapman, Luis Cessa and DJ LeMahieu.

“I want to make sure that I’m not the reason why it spreads to anybody and that I can play if it does get spread to someone else,” Frazier said.