Like his hair, Frazier doesn’t make cut
TAMPA − Down Frazier! As expected, Clint Frazier was reassigned to minorleague camp, the Yankees announced on Friday. Frazier, 22, a highly-touted outfield prospect, will open the 2017 season at TripleA Scranton.
“I thought he made progress in camp both defensively and offensively,” Joe Girardi said. “I thought he fit in really well. He plays hard. We like what we have.”
Frazier finished his first bigleague spring training with the goes Yankees hitting .308 with a homer in 20 games. He struck out 11 times in 39 at-bats and did not walk.
Frazier made headlines in camp for finally cutting his long curly red hair, taking a fly ball off the head while trying to make a diving catch and toppling over the wall along the right-field line while trying to catch a foul ball. Frazier’s development as a player and person will be interesting to follow.
“I think he really wanted to talk about himself as a baseball player instead of his hair all the time,” Girardi said. “He took care of that. And I think that’s what it got to: the focus was on his play more than anything else after that. I thought he handled it pretty well. He’s a young man that’s got a little style to him, and that’s ok. We love the way he plays.”
Other players reassigned to minor-league camp included Luis Cessa, Dustin Fowler, Billy McKinney, Ji-Man Choi and Jason Gurka.
GOLD MEDAL MAN
Tyler Clippard returned to the Yankees after winning the World Baseball Classic as a member of Team USA. Clippard, who thoroughly enjoyed the experience, plans to bring in his gold medal because Joe Girardi wants to see it.
DELLIN’S RETURN
Dellin Betances, in his first outing since playing in the WBC for the Dominican Republic, retired both hitters he faced . . . . Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was at Friday’s game and spoke to the team. Special instructor Hideki Matsui was also at camp. Third-base coach Joe Espada returned, minus the blonde beard he had when he coached Puerto Rico in the WBC . . . . The Yankees received righty Tyler Jones as a Rule 5 Draft return from the Diamondbacks and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton . . . . . Tyler Austin (broken foot) will be off his scooter on Monday, then into a walking boot. He hopes to be playing by May.