ALMOST GOLDEN
Clint admits shock at being finalist for fielding award
OK, so even Clint Frazier was surprised. The Yankee outfielder said he had thought “maybe,” when he heard the Gold Glove finalists would be announced, but when he found himself on that list at right field, he admitted it caught him by surprise.
“I saw it on Twitter, and I was kind of caught off guard,” Frazier said Monday night on the YES Network’s “Hot Stove”.
“I know that there were a lot of people out there probably looking at their phone sideways thinking ‘ No way this guy should be on there,’ but like, hey, I found myself on that list.
“At the end of the day, all that matters is that I put myself in a position to help my team and help myself individually and it was cool,” Frazier said.
“It was really cool. Obviously I didn’t win, but I was really excited to be on that list more than anything.” After the 2019 season, Frazier was on the Yankees’ naughty list, but with his defensive turnaround this season, he put himself in a whole new spot. His bat had put him in a position to help the injury-plagued Yankees early in the season in 2019, but his defense was brutal and he created controversy in the clubhouse.
There were rumors and speculation about whether he would ever be a Yankees’ everyday outfielder.
After the weird, coronavirus pandemic-shortened 2020 season, however, Frazier was on the nice list, unlikely for the Yankees to try to move him — unless he could be packaged for a young controllable starter like
75% of the roster — and penciled in for an everyday role.
The Yankees go into 2021 with the thinking Giancarlo Stanton has to be an everyday designated hitter and not a left fielder with his history of injuries and struggles to stay healthy and on the field. This opens the door for Frazier, especially with Brett Gardner now a free agent, but hoping to return to the Yankees.
The 26-year-old realizes it’s a tentative spot.
“It’s a little bit different, just because I feel really good about my position moving forward, but at the end of the day, left field has seemed to be a few different people’s position in the last few years and it’s changed, one day, one week (to the next),” Frazier said. “There’s still a lot of people that have come in, not held it down and I’m hoping that I’m gonna be able to hold it down.
The Yankees always thought Frazier’s bat played in the big leagues. This season, Frazier slashed .267/.394/.511 with eight home runs and 26 RBI. While his strikeout rate was still higher than the Yankees would like, his walk rate was up this season, a sign of a little more patience and maturity at the plate.
The defensive improvement in 2020, even in the abbreviated season, was enough for the Yankees to feel they could go into next season with Frazier as an everyday left fielder. It may not be award-worthy, but it looked like he was finally over the symptoms and issues that stemmed from his concussion in 2018.
“I think I just physically felt better,” Frazier said. “You know, I was dealing with some of the the concussion stuff the year before and was struggling with my depth perception and the bright lights, or even whenever we played a day game and the sun, how bright it was. Everything was just affecting my vision and I just felt uncomfortable out there and I know that it was very obvious to people watching,”
Frazier, who started 27 games in right field with 28 appearances while Aaron Judge was out with a calf injury, transformed himself from a player who cost the Yankees eight runs with his defense in 2019, to a plus-2 in defensive runs saved this season. In Statcasts’ Outs Above Average, Frazier is in the top 69th percentile. In 51 chances in right field this season, Frazier committed one error.
“Everyone just kind of thought that I’ve sucked out there,” Frazier continued. “So it was kind of cool to go into spring training, the first spring training we had this year and especially the second spring training, knowing that, you know, I’m over this and I’m just going to keep quiet the whole year and just go about it hopefully as loud as I can with my performance and as quiet as I can with everything else.”