Yankees left fielder Clint Frazier will get his first Opening Day start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, and he spoke to reporters on Wednesday about how validating this feels for him after the past few seasons.
“Yeah, you know, I think something that went with all the ups and downs, I had a lot of bitterness at times,” Frazier said. “I wanted to, at times I was like, ‘Am I going to play here or am I going to play somewhere else?’ But in my heart and in my head I wanted it to be here because I wanted to beat all the odds. Not that I’m saying I had a lot of odds against me, but I wanted to overcome this. I didn’t want to be somewhere else and not be able to say like, ‘Hey I came through, I finally got what I wanted to get’.
“It feels really good knowing that right now I have finally put myself in a position to where I don’t have to look over my shoulder every second wondering if I’m going to play tomorrow or the next day. And hopefully I take it in stride.”
The 26-year-old was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft by the Cleveland Indians. Since being acquired by the Yanks in exchange for Andrew Miller on the July 31 deadline in 2016, he’s yet to settle into a permanent role in the lineup.
Frazier expressed his excitement for playing on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, mentioning that he may be a little nervous, but sees it as a good thing.
“I mean probably, but overall I wouldn’t say a ton (of nerves). I think it’s just going to be a lot of excitement. So yeah, good nerves,” Frazier said.
The Yankees boast one of the strongest lineups in baseball with slugger after slugger. Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge both have hit 50-plus home runs in a season before, while Luke Voit led the MLB with 22 HRs in the shortened 2020 season.
Frazier would go on to say he’s comfortable batting in any spot that manager Aaron Boone puts him in, knowing what others in the lineup can do at the plate.
“I would say that not too many other teams I’d be thrilled to possibly hitting ninth on,” Frazier said. “It’s a lineup that’s so deep that I am completely fine hitting wherever I am in that lineup because the guys and what they’ve done in years past to be in this lineup. It’s a lot of firepower. Like I said to someone the other day, I don’t know how we acquired every player that hits the ball 500 feet.”