The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Yale’s Frawley takes his defensive skills to Twins
In 12 seasons as an assistant baseball coach at Yale, New Haven’s Tucker Frawley earned a national reputation as a defensive guru.
A few years ago he developed his own metricsheavy system of teaching and implementing defensive technique. He began using Twitter as a video database for his drills and observations and has amassed over 20,000 followers.
In 2018, Yale set a Division I record with a team fielding percentage of .985. Only 10 major league teams fielded at a better rate last season. Last spring the Bulldogs led the country in double plays per game. In January, Frawley was a keynote speaker at the American Baseball Coaches Association national convention in Indianapolis, presenting on infield defense and footwork.
So it wasn’t surprising when MLB organizations started contacting Frawley with job offers. Late last month, he accepted a position with the Minnesota Twins. His first day as the team’s coordinator of skill development and assistant field coordinator was Monday.
“It’s the right adventure at the right time for me,” Frawley said Tuesday between meetings with the Twins front office in Minneapolis. “A number of factors professionally and personally make this transition one that excites me. The people affiliated with the entire Twins organization, from top to bottom, are a group I’m looking forward to learning from.”
That sentiment, surely, is mutual. The Twins won 101 games and captured a division title, but were second in the American League in errors committed and second to last in team fielding percentage. Their TripleA and high Class A affiliates also struggled defensively.
Frawley, 34, will work primarily as a roving minor league instructor for the Twins. The organization is getting one of the finest young coaching prospects in baseball. Yale coach John Stuper, once a major league pitcher, says Frawley is the best defensive coach he’s ever seen, at any level.
“Tuck turned us into THE elite defensive team in the country,” Stuper said. “The numbers don’t lie. A ground ball in the Ivy League is the same as one in the SEC. We make plays. We reward pitchers for throwing strikes. That’s a great recruiting tool when you’re talking to high school pitchers.”
Stuper’s recruiting at Yale takes him across the country. More and more, he sees teams using Frawley’s system at practice. That’s largely due to Twitter, where his observations have become gospel to thousands of amateur coaches and young players.
His most recent post featured video of Yale doing a rapidfire drill emphasizing backhanded picks and quickrelease throws. Before that, it was a closeup video of Houston’s Alex Bregman using the “onehand lane” to gather a grounder on the run, tap his glove with the ball for rhythm before firing to first.
The two posts combined have been viewed more than 160,000 times.
Frawley, who grew up in the Westville section of New Haven and often sneaked onto Yale Field for batting practice with his father, Mike, and younger brother, Casey, credits Yale for providing an opportunity to develop his coaching instincts.
“To share a dugout with Stuper and help lead the program that I grew up following was nothing short of a dream come true,” Frawley said. “I am forever in debt relative to what the school, administrators, and coaches provided both me and my family these past 12 years.”
USC, OLYMPICS NEXT FOR WANGER
Benny Wanger, who made AllIvy League as both a first baseman and closer during his Yale career, missed the majority of his senior baseball season at Yale this spring with an injury.
But big things are on the horizon.
In September, he and Yale classmate Eric Brodkowitz helped Israel earn a spot in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by winning the Africa/Europe qualifying tournament. Wanger, a native of Newton, Massachusetts, is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel. The sixteam Olympic tournament begins in August.
Wanger will stay sharp by playing for USC this spring. His injury allowed him to remain collegeeligible as a graduate student. He’s listed as a pitcher and first baseman on the Trojans’ roster.
ALL-AMERICAN BULLDOGS
Yale football offensive lineman Dieter Eiselen and defensive end Spencer Matthaei were named Football Championship Series AllAmericans by Hero Sports.
Eiselen, a native of South Africa, was named to the second team just days after it was announced he will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl next month at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. He was also firstteam AllNew England and firstteam AllIvy League.
Matthaei, who had 32 tackles, four sacks and was among the nation’s top special teams players with three blocked kicks, was a thirdteam AllAmerican pick.