Yankees’ prospect Clint Frazier isn’t interested in the comparisons. He isn’t interested in filling someone’s shoes. He simply wants to be himself.
At least that was the 22-year-old outfielder’s message in regard to the link between him and Indians’ reliever Andrew Miller, who were the centerpieces of a five-player swap before the trade deadline last July.
“I’m not watching [Miller] pitch anymore,” Frazier told the New York Daily News on Tuesday night at the team’s “Winter Warm-Up” event at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. “I don’t want to watch him. I don’t think I need to try to fill the shoes of another person.”
Perhaps the pressure to match Miller’s stature hit Frazier in early August. In 25 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Frazier — now the Yankees No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America — struck out 31 times in 101 total at-bats, while hitting just .228/.278/.396 with three home runs. Miller, who earned 123 strikeouts in 74.1 innings with New York and Cleveland, also posted a lights-out 1.40 ERA in 10 playoff appearances.
The lesson? Only worry about your development.
“I think I kind of lost who I was when I was struggling last year,” Frazier said. “I didn’t know how to recover from such a slump that I went through. I think that was good for me to grow as a player and grow as a man, and I’m looking forward to this year.
“[Miller] did what he did because he’s one of the best pitchers in the game. To try to live up to the hype that he had because I was traded for him was hard. He went out there and did what he did and I struggled, and I think for the first time in my life I was humbled to a maximum tee. I needed that. I needed to get off cloud nine and realize that there are things I need to work on. I’m glad that a guy like Andrew is who I got traded for, so I need to continue to work everyday.”
Frazier’s worked on some of those things with Yankees’ mentor Reggie Jackson, who had built a strong bond with Frazier last fall in the Instructional League down in Florida. The Hall of Famer told Frazier to cut down on his overaggressive swings in the box, and to “be yourself.”
In order for Frazier to be himself, the game must be simplified, with offseason workouts that demand aches and pains, of course. During a fan Q&A session, Frazier said his max bench press was 390 — a decent number at best. But in his first trip to Yankee Stadium since his draft week in 2013, Frazier believes all the pieces will come together in 2017, whether or not the results land him in pinstripes this year.
“I think if I perform, I’ll be in the right spot,” Frazier said. “I’m not the general manager. I can’t call myself up. But I think everything is going to fall into place the way it should be.”
If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.
