New York Yankees: Scouting Report On OF Clint Frazier
The New York Yankees acquired OF Clint Frazier in a trade with the Cleveland Indians. What sort of player is he?
Who Is He?
Frazier was the 5th overall selection in the 2013 draft out of high school in Georgia by the Cleveland Indians. The Indians sent him to their Arizona Rookie League team, and Frazier hit well, going .297/.362/.506, hitting 5 home runs and 5 triples with 3 stolen bases. His solid start got the eye of people in the prospecting business, as he was the #48 prospect according to Baseball America and MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus had him all the way up to #36.
In 2014, the Indians sent Frazier to full-season A-ball with Lake County in the Midwest League. He played solid ball there, slashing .266/.349/.411 with 13 homers and 12 steals, though many were concerned by his 161 strikeouts in 542 plate appearances. This caused Baseball America to drop Frazier completely off of their top 100, while MLB.com dropped him to #53 and Baseball Prospectus dropped him to #89 overall.
Frazier continued on his one-level-per-year progression in 2015, playing with high-A Lynchburg in the Carolina League. He made big strides in his K rate, and his slash line was much more impressive as he went .285/.377/.465 with 16 home runs and 15 steals along with 36 doubles. He was sent to the Arizona Fall League and continued playing at a similar pace, going .281/.347/.438 with 3 home runs and 4 stolen bases in 22 games. He ended up turning prospect heads again, moving back to #44 on the Baseball America list, #27 on MLB.com’s list, and #53 on Baseball Prospectus’s list.
Frazier moved up to AA Akron in the Eastern League to start 2016, and he was beating up the Eastern League before he was traded from Cleveland to New York as part of the Andrew Miller deal. Overall on the season thus far, he’s hit .276/.356/.469 with 14 homers, 13 stolen bases and 26 doubles. At midseason, he was ranked #22 by MLB.com, #21 by Baseball America, and #26 by Baseball Prospectus.
Next: Frazier's scouting report
Scouting Report
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Body/Basics
Frazier is listed at 6’1 and 190 pounds, and that looks quite accurate. He’s a right-handed hitter and thrower.
Hitting
Frazier has a squat stance that gives you the look that he is going to simply explode out of it, and that’s why so many see a future power grade that’s through the roof for Frazier in spite of hitting less home runs than his teammate Bradley Zimmer along the way. Frazier has a very athletic build in the box, and you can see it in his swing as well.
One of the games I saw of Frazier’s in doing this report, he faced Washington Nationals super prospect Lucas Giolito. The two of them going back and forth was a tremendous battle. Frazier certainly didn’t back down to the incredible velocity of Giolito. He did strike out his first at bat, but it was pretty obvious that it was supposed to be a hit and run on a pitch Frazier couldn’t get to and swung through protecting his runner. The second at bat was also a strikeout, but then you could see Frazier watching the sequencing, and he had noted Giolito’s pitches, and he didn’t chase anything out of the zone. Giolito was forced to pound fastballs, and he eventually left one with too much of the heart of the plate, and Frazier absolutely crushed the ball.
Frazier has a smooth swing path with an uppercut finish. He has extremely good use of his hips and trunk to create explosion through his swing, which generates his power, in spite of not being exactly a “large” guy, like new teammate Aaron Judge. The difference between he and a guy like Judge is that he has such control in his swing that he can still get so much contact on breaking pitches, and he does have a reputation of being a very high-end student of the game, and while it’s confirmation bias for sure, watching Frazier with Giolito certainly showed him learning his opponent within the game, let alone within the season.
Base Running/Fielding
Frazier is not exactly a speed demon, but he has stolen double digits in bases every full season of his minor league career so far for a reason. He has great instincts, and he has enough speed to capitalize on it. So far, he’s really displayed that speed more on the base paths when going from 1st to 3rd or other such things, not exactly stealing bases.
Frazier has been playing primarily center field until this year due to his excellent reads on balls, but he swapped with teammate Bradley Zimmer this year, and I think it’s a great fit for both, as Zimmer has solid reads, but better athleticism and an amazing arm for center field while Frazier has used his premier instincts to become an elite defensive right fielder. Right now he’s playing left field in deference to Aaron Judge, but I think in the end, the Yankees will have to make a choice of whether or not they value Judge’s comfort or the tremendous defense Frazier brings by the time both are in Yankee Stadium. Of course, in New York, left field requires the more athletic outfielder, so perhaps they’re already prepping for that eventuality.
Video
Next: Future outlook
Future Outlook
Frazier’s build, swing, and athleticism reminds me a ton of a young Bobby Abreu, though obviously swinging from the other side of the plate. Abreu only topped 30 home runs twice in his career, never really tapping into the big power that his swing always showed that he had, though he was well-known for his big extra base seasons as he tallied 40+ doubles 7 times in his career. He also put his speed more to use on the base paths, stealing 30 or more bases 6 times in his career, including at age 35!
Frazier’s development will be very intriguing to watch in Yankee stadium, as most know that the park plays to lefty power, but Frazier is certainly a right-handed hitter, and his power typically comes through in pull variety. He does spray the ball with power around the field for doubles, but the balls that leave the park typically do so to pull side.
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Frazier likely will need to start the year next year in AAA, unless he really shows well in spring training and convinces the Yankees that he should have one of their starting outfield spots. However, the Yankees do have Jacoby Ellsbury (2020) and Brett Gardner (2018) signed for 2017 and beyond, so the opening for Frazier will likely either require a trade of one of those two or the move of Judge to first base or DH.