Getty Clint Frazier of the New York Yankees, who will look to carve out a spot to stay on the Yankees roster.
Plagued by injuries to start the 2019 season, the New York Yankees lineup comes limping into their fifth game of the year against the Detroit Tigers. Masahiro Tanaka gets the call for the banged-up Yankees while Jordan Zimmerman takes the bump for the Tigers. While Tanaka looked sharp against the Orioles, Zimmerman looked dominant against the Blue Jays as he held them scoreless them over 7 innings and allowed just one hit.
Speaking of the injuries, Miguel Andujar was recently ruled to have a torn labrum and joins a long list of Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Dellin Betances, and Jordan Montgomery of impact players on the shelf. With injuries ravaging depth across both the lineup and starting rotation, the only area that remains relatively unfazed is the bullpen.
Yankees Lineup & Roster vs Tigers
(Yankees Projected Lineup)
1. Brett Gardner CF
2. Aaron Judge RF
3. Luke Voit 1B
4. Gleyber Torres SS
5. DJ LeMahieu 3B
6. Mike Tauchman LF
7. Clint Frazier DH
8. Tyler Wade 2B
9. Austin Romine C
SP – Masahiro Tanaka (R)
Bench: Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, Troy Tulowitzki
Bullpen: Aroldis Chapman, Zach Britton, Stephen Tarpley, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Holder, Luis Cessa
Clint Frazier Ready For Breakout Season After Call Up
After losing Giancarlo Stanton to a bicep injury, the Yankees decided to call up highly touted prospect Clint Frazier to help fill the void left in the outfield. Acquired from the Indians in 2016 as part of the Andrew Miller deal, Frazier would make a name for himself as a vocal and exciting prospect who backed up his play with inspired defense and a solid bat. However, Frazier was slowed down in part by concussion issues during his 2018 season and has suffered from the Yankees elite talent level in the outfield at the major league level.
“I’m gonna try to make the most of it. You know, last year Miggy got a chance to come up here and he ran with it. I’m gonna do the most that I can to be ready every opportunity that I have and try to show this club I can do a little more than just talk and I can back it up.”
-Clint Frazier
With a clean bill of health and playing with a chip on his shoulder, manager Aaron Boone has already told the media that Frazier is going to see some significant run during his time with the big league club. A bundle of energy with natural power to the gaps, Frazier should help to provide a shot in the arm to the Yankees, who came out stagnant and dropped their opening series to the AAA (not really but kind of) Baltimore Orioles.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the exciting young talent over these next few weeks as he enters a fully-healthy age-24 season.