IN TODD, HE
IN SOME WAYS, Todd Frazier is still that 12-year old kid who seemed to get every big hit in leading his team from Toms River, N.J. to the Little League World Series championship. He has a Derek Jeter-like confidence, in fact, that oozes out of him even when he’s hitting .209 for the season.
“Ever since I was little, I know that pitcher out there doesn’t want to face me,’’ Frazier was saying before Tuesday night’s rainout. “That’s just how I think.
“Whatever I’m hitting right now, it’s not where I want to be in terms of my average. But when I’m up there in a clutch situation like (Monday night against Corey Kluber), I feel like I’m one of the top guys you want up there.”
Frazier indeed delivered a line single to left against Kluber to put the Yankees ahead at the time, yet he’s only hitting .188 with runners in scoring position this season, and his overall numbers have major-league scouts scratching their heads, wondering what happened to the guy who as recently as 2015 looked like he was going to be an AllStar for years to come.
“He was always a pull hitter but at some point his swing got a little long,’’ says a scout who has seen Frazier since he was starring at Rutgers. “Maybe because he started hitting more home runs, but the longer swing has affected his ability to make consistent contact because he has to pull the trigger sooner.
“It’s odd because he’s walking more now so he’s seeing the ball ok, but his approach is off. I keep waiting for him to fix it and go on a tear, but he can’t seem to figure it out.”
That may well sum up the feeling of Yankee fans as well. Frazier did make the All-Star team in 2014 and ’15 while playing with the Reds, and won the home run derby in Cincinnati, and in part because he has a big personality as well, his star status largely overshadowed his poor numbers for the White Sox this season.
The thinking among at least some baseball people, including the aforementioned scout, was that Frazier would be better after escaping the losing environment around the White Sox, and raise his game on the big stage in the Bronx, essentially a homecoming for him.
Yet he’s hitting only .214 since coming over in the trade six weeks ago, with five home runs (21 for the season, a double and a triple.
On the other hand, Frazier has played brilliant defensively at third base, and he