New York Yankees News: Aaron Hicks on Tiger Woods, Clint Frazier on Clint Frazier, and more

New York Yankees, Clint Frazier
Jun 23, 2018; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Clint Frazier (77) works out prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees centerfielder, Aaron Hick’s girlfriend, is Cheyenne Woods, the niece of golf superstar Tiger Woods. Woods was in a horrible rollover car accident in California Tuesday morning. The 45-year-old golfer was nearly killed; only his seatbelt likely saved his life. The car hit a curb tumbled off a Golden State roadway. Wood suffered several severe lower leg fractures but is expected to recover.

“I think right now, we’re trying to make sure with everything that’s going on with the surgeries and stuff, that he’s just gonna be healthy again,” the Yankees center fielder said Thursday. “Making sure he can be a father again and being able to enjoy and run around and play with his kids is what’s important right now.”

Doctors at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center described Woods’ “significant orthopedic injuries” in a statement released after his emergency surgery on Tuesday. He faces a long road to recovery that includes lengthy physical therapy and more operations on his shattered leg, medical experts have said. Whether Wood ever returns to pro golf is unknown, but after suffering multiple back surgeries and returning to win the Masters, if anyone can come back, it is Tiger Woods.

Hicks, who grew up playing golf in Southern California chasing some of Tiger Woods’ youth records, finished sixth in the celebrity division of last month’s Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Cheyenne Woods caddied for Hicks during the tournament. That is the only time HIcks has actually met Woods.  Other than baseball, Hick’s second love is the game of golf.

Clint Frazier’s is showing off his electric bat

Clint Frazier’s excellent play has continued into the 2021 spring training in Tampa, Florida. Frazier was a five-tool prospect but has not been given the MLB level opportunity to put together a full season. In 2021, nothing is blocking his way.

Frazier has always had a quick hot bat behind the plate, but his sub-par defense had always held him back from being the New York Yankee star that he could be, but all that changed in 2020 when the young man made an amazing transformation into a Gold Glove-like outfielder. The young star made it into the Gold Glove nominees gaining him a permanent place in the Yankee lineup.

If Frazier can show his numbers from 2020 across a full 2021 season, don’t be surprised if he’s named an All-Star. And don’t forget, assuming the Yankees’ lineup is fully healthy to begin the year, he should be in a much better position to produce since his numbers last year largely came when the roster wasn’t at full strength. If spring training is any indication, he seems on that route.

“I try not to think that I’m going to come into the season and just hit 60 home runs because of the way the offseason went,” Frazier said. “I think for me, the thing that I’m most excited about is the possibility to get a full season of at-bats. Really just to see kind of what I’m capable of because I do in my mind have expectations that I’d like to see come to fruition and the game is hard. It’s a lot harder, I feel like, playing in New York. But I feel like the last couple of years have prepared me for what it’s like to have highs and what it’s like to have lows and really how to find that happy medium to just go about my business the right way.”

The Yankees need Stanton to be Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton is a controversial Yankee player that had never lived up to the expectations of his 2017 season when he was the baseball NL MVP with the Miami Marlins. The Yankees gave him a mammoth contract which still has seven years to expiration. But the fact is other than 2018, and he has not performed for the Yankees; he has had two injury-riddled seasons that have dramatically affected his play.

But for the 31-year-old once superstar, there is still hope. Last season due to injuries, he played in only 18 regular-season games. But he came back to play in the New York Yankees playoffs against the Cleveland Indians and the Tampa Bay Rays. He was healthy and showed off what he can do when healthy. He hit six home runs in the seven postseason games while batting .302 and driving in 13 runs. If Stanton can stay healthy and come anywhere near close to the production in 2021, he will be the Yankee superstar that fans always thought he could be.