New York Yankees: Luke Voit says Clint Frazier has been ‘screwed around’

Luke Voit isn’t afraid to call out the New York Yankees for how they’ve handled young outfielder Clint Frazier over the past few years.

In an interview on the latest episode of the R2C2 podcast, Luke Voit voiced what everyone’s been thinking about the New York Yankees‘ treatment of Clint Frazier.

While discussing his own improvement in the field, Voit pointed out a parallel success story in Frazier.

“Shout out to Clint Frazier, too, because he did the same thing and now he’s our starting left fielder,” Voit said. “It’s awesome what his turnaround has been doing too, because I think that dude’s obviously a big-league player, and he’s obviously been kind of getting screwed around a little bit over the past three years.”

Voit’s comment is a reference to Frazier’s misfortunes as the odd man out. Frazier has been back and forth between the Yankees and triple-A so much since debuting in 2017, he could probably drive from Scranton to the Bronx with his eyes closed.

In 2019, Frazier broke out at the dish with 12 homers, 38 RBIs, and an .806 OPS in 69 games. But then it was his defense that kept him on the farm for much of the year, even when the Yankees were stacking bats on the IL.

The Yankees again demoted him early in 2020, choosing to keep Mike Tauchman’s lefty swing and steady defense. But injuries quickly paved the way for Frazier’s return to the Bronx, and it looks like he’s there to stay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJa6Q_GlJIc

After posting negative dWARs in each of his first three seasons, Frazier has a positive 0.4 in that category this season, per Baseball-Reference. He’s also slashing .303/.421/.596 with seven homers and 23 RBIs.

Now the Bombers are at full strength once again, and Frazier’s all-around game makes it impossible to keep him off the field.

The fans see it. Luke Voit sees it.

Hopefully, the New York Yankees decision-makers have their eyes open to a Frazier-filled future, too.