UP COMES FRAZIER!
Clint will join the Yankees in Detroit for their doubleheader Monday as 26th man on roster.
BALTIMORE — Clint Frazier was scratched from the lineup at Triple-A Scranton on Sunday, and is headed to Detroit. Frazier will join the Yankees as their 26th man for Monday’s split doubleheader against the Tigers, the Daily News confirmed.
The 23-year-old outfielder appeared in one previous game for the Bombers this season, going 1-for-2 with a double and two walks on May 19 in Kansas City. Frazier, though, was optioned back to the minors following the Royals series. He had been called up in the two games that were postponed against the Nationals earlier that week (one suspended).
Frazier has a 1.002 OPS and five homers in 25 games for Triple-A Scranton this season.
Frazier missed about two months due to a concussion he suffered during the spring.
Many fans have been clamoring for Frazier to stick with the Yankees, but there is a logjam of talented and established outfielders in front of him including Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks.
Hicks, who has been taking the brunt of fan criticism, just had five hits in the team’s weather-abbreviated series against the Orioles — including three on Saturday. His OPS is .784.
Hicks also ranks 10th out of 23 center field qualifiers in FanGraphs defensive WAR. And the Bombers don’t think Frazier, who has been known to take poor routes, is capable of playing center.
“When he’s not getting hits, he’s getting on base 35 percent of the time,” Aaron Boone said in defending Hicks recently. “And he’s a real center fielder that can really legitimately play center field. He has power and in a lot of ways is still a young player who’s still developing and is highly productive.”
Said Boone: “(He) continues to grow and establish himself as a big part of our future. Aaron is a really good player for us and plays a premium defensive position. You can’t just fire anyone out in center field.”