Will Yankees Fans See Clint Frazier in 2016?

The New York Yankees are planning to promote a wave of young players over the next two months, will newly anointed number one prospect Clint Frazier be one of them?

Slowly but surely, the New York Yankees are reconstructing their roster with a focus on youth. Recently promoted catcher Gary Sanchez earned his first major league hit Wednesday and may have the opportunity to stick as the team’s semi-regular DH the rest of the year.

GM Brian Cashman recently name dropped Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin as two other players the Yankees see as big-league ready. While a few guys should get the call this month, September may be when the team really opens the prospect flood gates with rosters expanding.

One interesting name who might be in line for a September cup of coffee is the new crown jewel of the Yankees system, outfielder Clint Frazier, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in the Andrew Miller trade. 

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After hitting, .276/.356/.469 (131 wRC+) in 369 plate appearances for Double-A Akron, the Indians promoted Frazier to their Triple-A affiliate on July 26th. The Yankees decided to keep Frazier in the International League after the trade, assigning him to the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders.

Frazier had a rough start to his Yankees career Tuesday, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Railriders’ 2-1 loss to Lehigh Valley. Things did go a little better Wednesday, as he went 1-for-5 with a run scored and one K.

The 21-year-old outfielder has seemed to struggle slightly since his latest promotion, albeit in limited time, going 6-for-30 with 10 strikeouts and just one extra-base hit. Frazier is a very complete player with an advanced approach, however. There aren’t many reasons to think he won’t be able to adjust to more challenging competition.

His new manager at Scranton Wilkes-Barre Al Pedrique didn’t seem worried about Frazier following his bumpy Railriders debut,  telling Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media:

"“He fouled off a couple good pitches and hit a line drive to left field I thought that was a nice short swing. He’s going to be fine. He played hard. He was having a good time in the dugout with the guys. We’ve just got to be patient with him and let him play and see what happens.”"

Assuming he continues to produce like he did earlier in the season, it seems at least plausible that Clint Frazier could get the call to the big leagues when rosters expand. He has at least one very vocal advocate with the team in Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, who has been gushing about Frazier in recent interviews. For example (via beat reporter Joe Giglio):

"“Frazier has an electric bat. His bat speed is already legendary. He’s got all the tools —he can run, he can hit, he can hit with power, he can play all three outfield positions. A very exciting, high-energy guy that shows up for the National Anthem in a dirty uniform.”"

It would be a great PR move for the Yankees to get their biggest prize from the trade deadline fire-sale to the Bronx as soon as possible, to give fans a look at the future before the reality of losing sinks in.

Frazier himself is already banging the drum for a call-up telling Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media:

"I had goals to get called up this year. Obviously being in Triple-A is a lot closer than where I was in the past. If I could call myself up, I would have already done it."

There are two obstacles to bringing up Frazier next month. First, he doesn’t have a 40-man roster spot, and space is expected to be tight in the next few months as the Yankees will have to protect a number of top prospects from the Rule 5 draft.

Second, the Yankees have a ton of young outfielders on the depth chart, and it’s not clear who ranks where. Frazier may be number one on prospect lists, but the team may want to see what they have in more fringy guys like Rob Refsnyder, Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, Ben Gamel, and Jake Cave.

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New York did nothing to clear out their outfield log-jam at the trade deadline, so now they are going to have to start sifting through the pile and figuring out their long term plans. Ultimately, Frazier probably wouldn’t play much even if he did earn a September promotion, but it would be fun just to see him get in for a game or two like Gary Sanchez did last year.