NEW YORK -- Clint Frazier was acquired from Cleveland in a July 2016 deal for reliever Andrew Miller and viewed by the New York Yankees as one of their next big stars.
Known for the shaggy red hair he had to cut to conform to the pinstriped sartorial code, he struggled to overcome cockiness and then brutal outfield defense.
Recalled from the limbo of New York's alternate training site after Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge got hurt recently, the 25-year-old outfielder was hitting .571 (8 for 14) with 2 home runs and 8 RBI in 4 games entering Monday. He's no longer distinctive for his hair, but for a team-logo gaiter that covers nearly his entire face.
"I'm still trying to find my role because I'm a human, and I look at a couple of weeks from now, whenever Stanton does come back, and where that puts me, and I think that I at least have time between now and then to possibly establish a role," Frazier said. "And I would hope that I make the most of it. I hope that I can at least get a couple chances to go out there and do my best, because that's really all I'm asking for now."
He drew attention during spring training in 2017 for a look more befitting Mick and Keith than Mickey and Yogi, a bright thatch of locks that taught him "hair is taken a lot more seriously than I thought."
"I was the black sheep and the problem," Frazier concluded.
When he debuted that July 1, Frazier became the first Yankee since 1913 to double and homer in his first major-league game.
But he bounced up and down, blocked by a big-league clubhouse filled with stars. His 2018 season was wrecked by a concussion, and he was set back against Boston on June 2 last year. Frazier let Eduardo Nunez's sharp seventh-inning single get under his glove for a run-scoring two-base error, then dived and missed Andrew Benintendi's liner that fell for a single as Brock Holt scored from first. One inning later, he took a bad route on Michael Chavis' ball near the right-field line, letting it skip by for an RBI triple as fans booed.
He was banished to the training complex at Scranton, Pa., after the second game, unneeded by a big-league team that had Brett Gardner in left, Aaron Hicks in center, Judge in right and Stanton at designated hitter, plus Mike Tauchman and Miguel Andujar as outfield backups.
"At times I wondered, 'Am I going to make it back?' " Frazier said.
But Stanton hasn't played since Aug. 8 due to a strained hamstring, and Judge has been sidelined since Aug. 11 by a strained calf. Frazier returned Wednesday with a single, double and solo home run against Atlanta, then had a two-run single, double and three-run homer on Saturday night against the Red Sox.
"I've noticed some driving the ball to center and right-center more than he usually does, and with authority," Manager Aaron Boone said. "He's worked his tail off really for the last couple of years to continue to give himself this opportunity. And, obviously, he's taken advantage of it."
Frazier knows how hard his path has been, how many of the obstacles were self-erected. He's heard the talk of possible trades.
"There's a lot of stuff that comes with being a New York Yankee. And I, unfortunately, found out the way to become a distraction in some areas," he said. "I'm just here to try to find my role and fit that role and obviously try to perfect that role."
Frazier hopes his outfield adventures are behind him.
"I'm not out there to be a Gold Glover. I'm just trying to just make the simple plays," he said. "I, obviously, had a few mishaps last year, but I had a long offseason and a long coronavirus offseason, as well, to make up for some stuff that happened last year. I never really looked at myself as a bad outfielder. I just had a couple bad plays."
