Clint Frazier likely getting Yankees call-up in September

SEATTLE — Despite hitting .243 at Triple-A and being a defensive liability in the outfield, Clint Frazier is likely to rejoin the Yankees when the big-league rosters expand Sunday.

Talking about the rosters increasing before Wednesday’s 7-3 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, Aaron Boone said, “I think there are a couple of obvious ones.’’

Asked if Frazier was in that group, the manager answered, “I think Frazier will probably be here.’’

A self-built lightning rod for attention with the ability to say the wrong thing at the worst time, the big-league portion of Frazier’s season is best remembered for botching three plays in right field against the Red Sox on national television on June 2 at Yankee Stadium.

Frazier made the night worse when he didn’t talk about the nightmarish game with the media. And the next day, despite getting advice from several corners of the Yankees organization, the soon-to-be 25-year-old outfielder doubled down on his actions.

“No, I don’t regret it. To be fair, I didn’t think that I owe anyone an explanation, because it’s not a rule that I have to speak,’’ Frazier said June 3 in Toronto.

Then he uttered what sounded like a plea for help.

“I know I don’t fit the mold of what some of the past and current Yankees are like, and that may be why it’s a little bit harder for me to navigate every day. I’m trying to be myself in here, and sometimes it feels like people have an issue with me being myself. It’s been difficult. It’s been hard,’’ Frazier said.

“My entire life, I’ve always kind of been different. I’ve struggled to fit in because people perceive me a certain way. Whenever I was young, the only thing I felt that kept me relevant was baseball. Then in Cleveland, they were upset with me there. Then when I came over here, the magnitude of it is 10 times bigger. I’m just trying to fit in on this clubhouse and be myself. And it’s hard here. It’s hard to do that, but I want to be here.’’

Thirteen days later Frazier was sent to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room for Edwin Encarnacion and took the full 72 hours to report.
In 57 games with SWB, Frazier had seven homers, 23 RBIs and a .726 OPS. Going into Wednesday’s action Frazier was hitting .182 (4-for-22) with a .477 OPS in the previous seven games.

With Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks on the injured the list, the Yankees have been playing with four outfielders. So there is a need for at least one more when the roster expands.

It remains to be seen how often the Yankees use Frazier in the outfield while they attempt to win their first AL East title since 2012 and finish with a better record than the Astros and Dodgers to gain home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

In 53 big-league games this season, Frazier hit .283 with 11 homers, 34 RBIs and a .843 OPS.