New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier was born on September 6, 1994, in Loganville, Georgia. He is of Scot descent and played baseball in the outfield of the Loganville high school baseball team. He played well, and in his senior year, he batted .485 with 17 home runs and 45 RBI’s. He was even named the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year.
Clint doesn’t have to borrow a dollar for a coke, he was given a 3.5 million signing bonus with the Cleveland Indians, being selected fifth in the 2013 draft. He decided to sign with the Indians instead of attending college at the University of Georgia. After the signing, he was sent to Arizona to play with the minor league team there. In his first game, he hit a triple and a home run. In 2014 he played for their Class A team, the Captains of the mid-west league. He batted .266 with 13 home runs in 120 games.
Frazier’s big break came in July of 2016 when the Indians traded Clint to the New York Yankees in a multi-trade that got the Indians, Andrew Miller. Clint was assigned the triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders. In 2017 Clint played in 73 games for the Rail Riders amassed 42 RBI’s, a batting average of .257 with 12 home runs. The reason he played only 73 games is that he was called up to the stadium on July 1 of 2017. Big Red or Red Thunder, as he is called, enamored himself to Yankee fans on July 8, when hit his first career walk-off home run, giving the Yankees a win over the Brewers.
During spring training in Tampa in 2018 in catching a fly ball to the left-field, he crashed into the wall and suffered a concussion, which ended his 2018 season. From May to August, he was frequently on the AAA/Stadium shuttle, although seldom playing. On September 8, the Yankee Manager Aaron Boone said the Frazier would miss the rest of the season to receive treatment for ongoing symptoms caused by the concussion.
As spring training started last year, the never shy Frazier announced that he was ready to make an impact this year and wanted Brett Gardner’s left-field job, when the time was right. During spring training, Clint was not particularly remarkable. Boone said that he would probably be sent down to the minors to start the season, which is what happened. Frazier was given another big chance to prove himself due to all the Yankee injuries last year. He was called up April 1, and in three games and ten at-bats, he had two hits and 1 RBI and a batting average of just .200.
During June, all Frazier did was hit. In fact, he hit .320 with four multi-hit games. Despite his hot hitting, Frazier was controversial as he failed at times in the field, and then there was the episode when he failed to answer questions about his poor fielding. When Edwin Encarnacion was traded to the Yankees from Seattle, the Yankees made the decision that rankled many but sent Frazier down to Scranton. Frazier, then further damaged his reputation by tweeting snarky comments about the Yankees and removing everything Yankee from his social media. Many consider these actions quite immature, and to be a real Yankee; he needed to grow up.
While at Scranton Wilkes/Barre Frazier hit for a .283 average with eleven home runs and 34 runs batted in. Late in the season, as the roster expanded to 40, Frazier was again called up to the stadium to be part of the 40 man roster. Clint has been mostly hugely popular and made a big impact on getting the Yankees over the .500 mark earlier in the season..
During this spring training 2020, a somewhat changed Clint Frazier seems to have shown up at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The ordinarily brash Frazier appears to be trying to fly under the Radar. Thirteen days into camp, Frazier has blended into the Yankees’ fabric by not drawing attention to himself. He is letting his play speak for him. Gone is the lush red mop of hair, gone is his affinity for transforming Jordans into cleats. Nothing like those distractions are evident this year at camp. One scout said that it appears the Clint Frazier finally has realized that he has to grow up. Others have said that he seems to be more comfortable this year, more confident. Frazier, when asked what he wants to accomplish during camp, he said:
So far, Frazier has shown that his offseason work to improve his outfield play, may have had an impact. With Aaron Judge yet to start playing, Clint has been playing right field with no errors. He also has made an offseason adjustment in his stance at the plate. Frazier claims the new left heal up position gives him more control. In Thursday’s game against the Rays, he homered over the stands in left field. Clint Frazier would like to make a big impression so that he can remain in the majors as an everyday player. Last year he batted .267 but fell short in his defense in the field, something he has worked on to improve. The Yankees would like his quick bat at the plate. Frazier has made 10 plate appearances in 5 games this spring training. The now 25-year-old has a very respectable .300 average and a 1.229 OPS. He also has 2 RBIs in addition to his home run.
EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.