Clint Frazier’s season ended in August, when his rehab assignment ended shortly after he pulled himself from the lineup before a game at Double-A Somerset on Aug. 15.
Since then, Frazier has been quiet and the Yankees gave only vague — and often confusing — updates on the status of the outfielder, who has dealt with concussion symptoms for years.
On Tuesday, Frazier responded to a fan’s well-wishes on Twitter by saying he planned on speaking publicly about his health issues “soon.”
“[I’d] love to have the opportunity to talk about this situation publicly and probably plan to do so soon,’’ Frazier wrote. “My issues have been very personal to me and something I’ve wanted to handle privately, but there’s been a lot of inaccurate things reported about my injury that I’ll clear up.”
Frazier was initially listed to be out with vertigo, but that was later said not to be the case by the team. Aaron Boone said Frazier was meeting with doctors and was dealing with neck and vision issues, visiting doctors in Michigan.
Sources said there is no conflict between Frazier and the team, and that the Yankees were respecting Frazier’s wishes to keep the specifics of what was keeping him out private, which is a player’s right and one that is rarely used.
Frazier suffered through a rough 2021 even before the health setbacks.
Declared by both Boone and general manager Brian Cashman as the starting left fielder before spring training even began, Frazier hit just .186 and had an OPS of .633 in 218 plate appearances.
He left his final game with the Yankees in the third inning on June 30 and never approached the results he put up in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when the Yankees believed Frazier was fulfilling the potential they saw in him when he was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Andrew Miller to Cleveland in 2016.
With Frazier out — as well as Aaron Hicks, who had season-ending wrist surgery in May— the Yankees’ outfield depth took a severe hit, with only Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner staying healthy there throughout the season.
They dealt with it first by going to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before using Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield on occasion and trading for Joey Gallo. Gallo was dreadful after his arrival from Texas and remains under Yankees control for next season.
Hicks is expected to be healthy.
As for Frazier, his future in The Bronx remains a mystery.
His three-game rehab stint ended in August with Boone saying he was in a “holding pattern.”
“Obviously, he’s been through a lot and seen a lot of people and a lot of testing and everything,’’ the manager said. “We’ll just try to continue to follow and support him where we can. But as of right now, a little holding pattern. I know he feels well today. We’ll just see.’’