Fans have been upset that the Yankees are not a good baseball team right now. But like my co-host Stanzo says, there’s a lot of reasons to be positive. The big guys will hit, we should get some length out of our starters as time goes on, and the defense should get better when Voit comes back.
We shouldn’t be that upset (yet), I can settle for disappointed right now. But if there’s one person who absolutely SHOULD be upset, it’s a guy who actually plays for the Yankees…at times. Clint Frazier.
We were told this off-season, as was he by Aaron Boone, that he is the starting left fielder. He “earned” it. On top of his electric bat and his hustle on the bases, his defense has gotten better and he’s greatly matured as a person (although I never really saw that as an issue) into what people consider a “Yankee”.
And now, with the Yankees offense stalling he is getting pinch-hit opportunities and getting his spot taken by Brett Gardner. That makes no sense to me, and it should make no sense to him. He can make a difference offensively and when our guys are hitting noticeably bad, he’s on the bench?
We’re getting a platoon in left field between him and Gardner, and that’s not what we or he was promised. And it’s not like he’s even played bad enough to lose his spot. He’s not Jay Bruce or Tyler Wade. He had a tough stretch from April 6-9 where he went 0-13 with 6 Ks, granted. But if we’re giving everybody else the benefit of the doubt, why does he not get the same treatment?
I hope he sees consistent playing time soon because I like really like Frazier and his potential, but the Yankees haven’t shown they want to do that for him. If not, all the trade deadline rumors around Frazier will start swirling again. This time though, it wouldn’t be for the Yankees benefit…it would be for his.
