Clint Frazier has been humbled since his departure from The Bronx in 2021, but that time may be end with his bat heating up again.
The former Yankee has bounced around baseball after wearing the pinstripes, having stints with the Cubs, the Dominican League Toros, the Rangers, and now with the White Sox — with whom a tweak of his stance in the minor leagues has seemed to reignite his bat.
While with Triple-A Charlotte before he was called up to Chicago on Sunday, Frazier switched from his usual extremely closed stance to a more traditional one, according to The Athletic.
It led to Frazier having a.375 batting average with seven home runs and a 1.317 OPS in 16 games.
In the White Sox’s 5-2 win over the Royals on Sunday, he went 1-for-3 batting sixth with a run scored in what marked his second Chicago debut.
“A big thing for [Frazier] too is just staying aggressive, being on time and driving the fastball to right-center,” White Sox minor-league hitting coach Cameron Seitzer told The Athletic recently. “Obviously, it’s been a game-changer for him.”
The outfielder’s MLB career began in 2017 after the Yankees acquired him from Cleveland as part of the Andrew Miller trade.
Things hit a high in 2019 when he posted a slash line of .267/.317/.489 with a .806 OPS and 12 home runs and 38 RBIs across 69 games before things went downhill.
In 2021, he only posted five homers, 15 RBIs, and an OPS of .633 in 185 at-bats.
Frazier was released in 2022 and signed a one-year contract with the Cubs, but he failed to deliver with them, playing only 19 games while hitting a .217 with one RBI.
But now things are looking up for Frazier again after adjustments he made with the Rangers and now White Sox.
“I definitely realized I don’t know as much about baseball as I thought that I did, which is why [Rangers hitting coach] Tim Hyers was such a great asset for me,” Frazier, 28, told the Chicago Sun Times. “The pillars of hitting, the important things in my swing to focus on … he got me in a good place, and that place led to me being here in Chicago.”
The White Sox have have seen a dismal season thus far after having lofty expectations coming into the year.
They sit in fourth in the AL Central at 19-29 before starting their series against the Guardians on Monday.
So, a potentially rejuvenated Frazier could help them and put him in the majors long-term again.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of talent, there’s a lot of tools,” Seitzer said. “He’s explosive. He generates a lot of torque and pairing that with good direction, he’s had some serious results so far. He’s really opening up the field and not just hitting the fastball. He’s been able to adjust to off-speed as well.”