Suddenly, Frazier’s knocking Yankees out with his glove
TAMPA — Clint Frazier didn’t get the Gold Glove, but he got the love. The Yankees left fielder was thrilled to be named a finalist for the Gold Glove last season. He knew Joey Gallo’s numbers were probably going to make the Rangers outfielder a lock for the award, but even being mentioned for it had Frazier flying high.
He might have texted a few of his Yankees teammates and his manager.
“He blew us all up, so I think it meant a lot to him.” Aaron Boone said with a laugh. “I think back to the Red Sox game where he had a couple blunders out there. So his defense has been something that’s always been talked about or questioned. Can he get to a certain point? We’ve seen the work over the last couple of years suggest that he could become a very good defensive outfielder, and we saw that turn into results last year. We saw just a much more confident player, whether in his routes, the speed in which he moved out there. Because I think there was a confidence in what he was doing. I think Clint was very proud of that. So he let us know that he was a finalist, in his way. But it’s a tribute to his work and his athleticism that allowed him to go out there and deliver on that.”
The young outfielder had made three critical mistakes in a loss to the Red Sox in the Bronx in 2019 and finished that season as one of the lowest-rated outfielders.
So last year was a welcome surprise.
Frazier, who made 27 starts in right field while Aaron Judge was out with a calf injury, transformed himself from a player who cost the Yankees eight runs in 2019 with his defense, to a plus-2 in defensive runs saved last season. In Statcasts’ Outs Above Average, Frazier was in the top 69th percentile. In 51 chances in right field last season, Frazier committed one error.
Frazier didn’t get the Gold Glove, but he’s earned respect in the clubhouse and in baseball. And the brash outfielder known for his love of shoes had some custom gloves made for himself this year.
“I did three, shoe-themed gloves. I’m wearing one of them currently in the game right now, I don’t know if I am going to wear the other two. They’re kind of some exotic looking colors an I don’t really know the rules on outfield gloves,” Frazier said. “I’m sure I’ll find out pretty quickly. If I if I wear the other two.”
EASING DOWN THE ROAD
Chad Green didn’t have to make the trip to Sarasota. The right-handed reliever was
supposed to make his spring training debut on Tuesday against the Orioles. Instead, the veteran was given a chance to avoid the one-hour trip and just work at the Yankees’ minor league complex.
“We just decided to keep him back here. I think we’re just trying to be a little wise and probably slow play our higher-leverage relievers as far as game action,” Boone said. “We’re just trying to be mindful of all the things we talked about with our starting pitchers and innings. Coming off the last season, I want to be mindful of that with our relievers as well.”
Green is a crucial cog in the Yankees’ bullpen. The 29-year old threw just 25.1 innings in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season over 22 appearances. After decades of fine-tuning how to prepare pitchers for the season, last year’s shutdown and restart of spring training and abbreviated workload has many clubs being extra cautious with their arms this spring.
Also, relievers do not usually focus on or need as much in-game work to prepare.
COMING UP
Giancarlo Stanton and Brett Gardner are expected to play in their first Grapefruit League games tonight. . . Gio Urshela, who is coming off surgery on his right elbow to remove a bone chip, is expected to make his spring-training game debut on Thursday in Clearwater against the Phillies. . . Deivi Garcia will make his first start of spring on Thursday, followed by Domingo German on Friday.