Adjusting to the grind
Matt Fraizer’s breakout seemed long ago when he slumped in Altoona
Sometimes this season, Matt Fraizer has just had to get his mind off of baseball.
Fraizer was the Pirates’ breakout prospect last season with a .939 OPS and 23 homers and a mid-season promotion to Class AA Altoona. It was the type of performance that puts players on the map, and that happened for Fraizer. He catapulted all the way up prospect rankings, slotting in as the Pirates’ No. 10 prospect before this season, according to MLB Pipeline.
Development isn’t linear, though, and this season has proven that. Fraizer struggled through a poor start. In April, he hit just .164 with four extra-base hits. Fraizer, like most other players, expressed the need to stay as even-keeled as possible, trying not to get too hard on himself when things are going badly.
That’s a lot easier said than done. Fraizer said some days he would just go home and call his family, requesting to talk about anything other than baseball.
“I’ve got good family support, so just talking to them and getting my mind off the game is really helpful,” Fraizer said. “Just different things, video games, keeping it light, music, just other stuff to get your mind off the game when you’re going through a rough patch. ... I would say the biggest one is the family just calling them, like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to talk about baseball. How’s life?’”
Fraizer has turned it around over the last month or so. After he bottomed out with a .152 average May 10, he’s climbed out of the hole, hitting .253 in May. The season numbers still aren’t great, but it’s drastic progress from where he stood after April.
The problem for Fraizer was trying to figure out what went so well for him last season. As his struggles continued, he would watch old video and consult his coaches to figure out where he’d strayed from his past approach. The problem was that, when Fraizer identified things he succeeded with in 2021, they weren’t working the same way.
In part, it’s because his body has changed. It’s not a drastic weight change or anything like that, it’s just that a player’s hitting approach isn’t as simple year to year as repeating everything.
“I was like, ‘Your body is totally different now. Your mind is totally different. These pitchers already have an idea of who you are and they’re going to attack you a different way,’” Altoona hitting coach Jon Nunnally said. “Now it’s up to you to be able to control the zone. At a certain point, he just wasn’t controlling the zone.”
In more simple terms, the biggest change Fraizer could identify is that last season, he aimed to pull the ball for power, and it worked. This year, he tried a similar thing and couldn’t catch up to the pitches. His eyes saw hangers but his body wasn’t catching up.
So the fix was to simplify things. Fraizer adopted a more up-the-middle approach. He’s trying to stay back in his batting stance and drive it into center field more often.
“I’ve got to do a different mindset, have the up-themiddle approach or just let your hands pull the ball,” Fraizer said. “So just trying to stay through the ball and up the middle is what’s been working for me. I’m still able to pull the ball and go all the way to both sides.”
The whole time, Fraizer and his coaches tried to remain positive. Even if he wasn’t hitting well all the way around, he was still doing some damage with runners in scoring position. That’s helped him to 20 RBIs, fourth-best for Altoona despite the issues at the plate.
Plus, Fraizer is a player who can make an impact on the game in multiple ways. He’s tied for second on the team in stolen bases. On Wednesday, in an Altoona loss, he showed his defensive value. With runners on first and second with two outs, a batter for the Bowie Baysox singled to right. It should have scored a run. Fraizer was quick on his feet, though, caught the ball on a hop and fired to second, catching the Bowie runner off the bag and getting the out before the other runner crossed home.
It didn’t save the game, but it’s an example that Fraizer is a good, wellrounded player. If it isn’t happening for him on offense, he’s able to contribute in other ways.
“He made two plays last week in Harrisburg. Just impacting the game. That’s the type of players we have, man,” Altoona manager Kieran Mattison said. “They get it. If I don’t hit, you don’t hit. It all starts with their preparation. They’re students of the game, and they all want to continue to own their craft in all facets of the game. ... Even with Fraizer, he was still hitting the ball with runners in scoring position. That means it ain’t all bad. It’s a lot of good. So when it’s all good, that could show you the heights.”
For fans, it can be frustrating to see prospects rated as highly as Fraizer struggle. Fraizer isn’t one to browse prospect rankings himself, but he says he’s felt some more outside attention than he had previously. He doesn’t think that’s changed the way he approaches the game, but it’s true that Pirates fans are paying more attention to him than they were before his breakout.
Fraizer is having to battle with a lot of things mentally. Not even mentioned is the fact that, if he performs well, he’ll inch ever closer to the major leagues in the near future. There were times earlier this season when Pittsburgh felt awfully far away as Fraizer searched for the magic that projected him to Altoona last season. He’s gotten better since, and the lesson learned may be the value of staying focused on the dayto-day tasks at hand.
“I feel like that’s the whole minor league part, taking each day at a time, pitch-by-pitch,” Fraizer said. “I think last week, one of the starters from Harrisburg made his MLB debut today. We banged him around a little bit. It’s a very good feeling where you’re like, ‘Hey, it’s very possible.’ At the same time, the big leagues are so close but so far, and you’ve literally got to take it a pitch at a time, pitch by pitch.”