Clint Frazier was the only Yankees position player who talked to the media after Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, so there were a few questions during his short and not-so-sweet Zoom Q & A about the lineup shooting a lot of blanks in the opening series. While dropping two of three at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks scored just eight runs and hit .218 with two homers.
“It’s really early, but we’re a really good team,” Frazier said. “It’s just three games and obviously it’s going to click. No need to hit the panic button yet.”
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The most interesting part of the Q & A came when a reporter asked Frazier, who started in right field on Sunday, about losing a couple of flyballs in the sun while playing left field earlier in the series.
“The sun is terrible in left,” Frazier said. “I’ve learned that. I felt pretty fortunate to be in right (on Sunday), I didn’t have to deal with any sun. (Brett Gardner) is pretty good in left, so we’ll give him the sunny days.”
The follow-up question from the same reporter was more direct and seem to catch Frazier off guard:
Are you a good starting left fielder?
Frazier smiled before responding this way:
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three yeahs.”
Frazier had well documented outfield struggles in 2019 before improving so much last season that he was one of three Gold Glove finalists in right field. He played mostly right as a fill-in for Aaron Judge, who was injured for a big chunk of the short season.
With Gardner on the free agent market, Frazier was named the starter in left field over the winter. Nothing changed after the Yanks re-signed Gardner, who probably will play the final innings in left over Frazier when the Yanks are leading because he’s always been an excellent defender. That’s how it played out on Saturday when the Yanks won 5-3.
But Frazier is proud of the defensive improvement that he’s made through a lot of hard work, much of it coming under the tutelage of Yanks first base coach/outfielder instructor Reggie Willits. Frazier also knows though that he’s not a finished product as a defender, so he’s still striving to get better.
“Reggie Willits and I have worked a lot,” Frazier said. “Even though I made improvements last year, he’s still on me every single play that I make if he sees that possibly I could have done something a little bit different. It’s all just because he’s got a lot of love for me and he wants to see me continue to improve.
“We’ve developed a pretty good routine. We’re still tweaking stuff if we need to and still going out there and trying to take the next strive forward.”
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The Link LonkApril 05, 2021 at 05:52AM
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Yankees’ Clint Frazier asked tough question about defense, gives awkward but funny answer - NJ.com
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Funny
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