Unlike the past three years, Clint Frazier enters the 2021 season as a starter in the loaded Yankees lineup.
With exactly a week until the season begins, Frazier’s fifth year in the Yankees organization has a noticeably different feel.
“I think it’s gone good,” Frazier said during Thursday’s spring-training game — a 13-12 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. “Obviously, in the last 10 or so at-bats it hasn’t gone exactly in my favor. But I think I’ve just kind of tried to lay as low as I can. And with all the guys that we have in the lineup around us, it’s pretty easy to kind of fall under the radar, considering all those guys are the star power. So that’s kind of just what I’ve been trying to do is go out there, try to build on the season that I had last year and just keep it rolling.”
Through 14 games, Frazier is slashing .281/.343/.500 with two home runs and six RBI. As the Yankees’ everyday LF, Frazier was honest about how much of a confidence boost public support from GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone has given him.
“It made me feel like I was a part of the team more, because I’ve been the guy that’s trying to crack the lineup every opportunity that I can,” Frazier said. “And for both e guys to say the things that they said, out in the public, it definitely made me feel a sigh of relief. But I try to take the mindset of, ‘OK, just because those words were said, it doesn’t mean I need to stop the mindset that I’ve had the last few years, which is trying to get in the lineup. And just because I’m in it doesn’t mean I need to get complacent and get too happy about it, because everybody says the easy part’s getting there — the hard part’s staying there. But it hasn’t been easy for me to get here and I’m assuming it’s not going to be easy for me to stay, considering the firepower we all have to get in that lineup.”
Frazier looked to be turning a corner with the Yankees in 2020. Sticking in the lineup thanks to an improved defensive effort, ending up as a Gold Glove finalist for the AL RF. Frazier slashed .267/.394/.511 with eight long balls and 26 RBI in 39 games. MLB executives told SNY’s Andy McCarron in February that Frazier could be on the verge of a first-career All-Star appearance, and the 26-year-old is not shying away from setting the bar high.
“The goal is to be an impact player, one that shows what I can finally do over the course of 162 games,” Frazier said. “And like I said to you guys earlier in the month, I have goals in my head of what I want to accomplish — and I do think they are pretty, pretty fair goals. And I do think that if I accomplish those, that there’s a good chance that I could find myself on the All-Star ballot, if I produce the way that I know that I can. Obviously, there’s a lot of things that I’d have to do to get in that position. But I do feel capable and there’s a reason why I’ve spoken with a lot of confidence in the past, and I think this year I’m going to finally — I mean, I guess last year I showed it, but this year I’m going to try to show it over the course of 162.”