Todd Frazier hit a home run in his Brooklyn debut Tuesday, but he made an even bigger impact in the clubhouse.
BROOKLYN — Brooklyn Cyclones catcher Hayden Senger still remembers where he was when Todd Frazier won the MLB Home Run Derby in 2015.
“That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” Senger told Elite Sports NY before Tuesday’s contest against Tri-City. “It was great for Cincinnati.”
Senger had the chance to play with his childhood hero on Tuesday when Frazier made a rehab start in Brooklyn.
Senger was a “little bit speechless” to play with Frazier. “He’s a guy that I watched when I was in high school,” he said. Senger grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, which is less than 35 miles from Great American Ballpark.
“Everybody from Cincinnati loves Todd Frazier and it’s really cool to actually be able to meet him in person,” Senger said.
Frazier is an idol to many in the Mets organization and has been in the public eye since he was 13. In 1998, he led Toms River (NJ) on an improbable run to the Little League World Series, where the team won gold. Since then, he has spent time in the big leagues
with the Reds, White Sox and Yankees. This year, the Mets signed him to a two-year, $16 million pact.
Frazier made his Brooklyn debut on Tuesday morning, as he attempts to recover from a rib strain.
He went 1-for-4 with a homer. Frazier will be in the Brooklyn starting lineup for the series finale on Wednesday, according to manager Edgardo Alfonzo.
Frazier is the third Mets player to rehab in Brooklyn this season, joining Noah Syndergaard and Jason Vargas. He is the first position player to rehab in the Borough of Trees since José Reyes did so in 2016.
Frazier played in two games with St. Lucie (A+), going a combined 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI Saturday and Sunday.
He followed that performance up with a home run on Tuesday.
“From what I saw, he looks pretty good,” said Alfonzo. “To do rehab, and games like that, you just wanna have your timing, you wanna see pitching and you wanna see where you’re at, and I think that’s what he was doing.”
Things haven’t come easy for Frazier in 2018. In 61 games, he is batting just .217 with 10 homers and 32 runs-batted-in. This is incredibly just the second disabled list stint of his career.
“I talked to a few guys — especially the third base guys like [Brian] Sharp and [Chandler] Avant. I said, ‘I want you guys to watch how this guy at third base plays,’ because I think that one way or another it’s going to help them later on,” Alfonzo said.
“I played third base, too. Sometimes they need to watch how a guy plays.”
