New York Yankees: Clint Frazier proving he needs to stay
By Jason Evans
New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier is proving he belongs in the major leagues
In 2018, the New York Yankees had a rash of injuries to their outfield. Neil Walker had to play more outfield than he or the Yankees ever thought he would. Shane Robinson got a lot of time as well. One player who didn’t get the chance to play was Clint Frazier, due to his lingering concussion issues.
Fast forward to 2019. The New York Yankees have a rash of injuries to their outfield. Gone are Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and I guess you can count Jacoby Ellsbury. Mike Tauchman is playing more than anyone thought he would. However, a big difference is Clint Frazier is healthy and taking advantage of this opportunity.
In 17 games since coming up to the big leagues this season, Frazier is hitting .339 with 1.019 OPS. He is tied for the team lead in homers and leads the team in RBI. I don’t think anyone saw this coming but when you have so many injuries, well, these things happen.
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The New York Yankees may just be 10-10 right now, but Frazier is one of the reasons why they have been able to tread water right now with all of the injuries they are facing. The way Frazier is hitting, even when the outfield gets healthy, he should still be in the lineup every day. He’s a -1 DRS thus far, but may be a better left fielder than Stanton.
Brett Gardner, at this point, should be a fourth outfielder. Yes, he’s had some clutch hits thus far, but he’s hitting just .227 with a .792 OPS, and this is coming off the second half of 2018 where he hit just .209 after the All-Star break.
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The New York Yankees are trying to stay afloat, and if they somehow make the playoffs after withstanding all of the injuries that they have, Clint Frazier’s bat may be a reason why. Even after they get healthy, Frazier may be proving that he’s here to stay.