Yankees: Clint Frazier placed on IL for worrisome reason

There’s been little-to-no explanation this year for the massive regression of…well, the whole roster, but specifically Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier, two Yankees who were expected to take large steps forward this year.

Though Torres spending 120 games being powerless remains unexplained, fans might’ve gotten a window into what’s been causing Frazier’s passivity with Friday’s news.

The outfielder left Wednesday’s disastrous game after just one at-bat (lucky him), complaining of dizziness, but that news was lost in the aftermath of the potential season-ender at 1:00 AM.

On Friday, though, Frazier was placed on the IL after an initial round of testing, though the diagnosis didn’t seem exactly solidified.

Frazier’s official diagnosis is vertigo, though he remains under examination and will continue to undergo a “battery of tests,” per Aaron Boone.

Of course, Frazier’s concussion history — which derailed his 2018 season entirely after a spring training incident — comes into play here and causes additional concern.

Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier concussion history

Frazier, back in 2018, crashed headfirst into the left-field wall in a spring training game in Bradenton, the effects of which lingered throughout the entire season; as a result, his age 23 campaign consisted of just 41 plate appearances.

Not only was that year impacted, but Frazier admitted recently that his 2019 season was impacted as well by the aftereffects. Concussions are terrifying. This is nothing to mess with.

The context of the concussion truly colors Frazier’s entire career. His 2020 breakout seemed to come later than many anticipated, but if you factor in 1.5 lost years, essentially, the timeline begins to make more sense.

This latest update is frightening, to say the least, and lends credence to the conspiracy theory that Frazier may have been compromised at some point this spring, leading to his otherwise unexplained backslide.

On March 9 this Frazier ran hard into another wall in Lakeland, FLspring, at Detroit’s spring training site, and though he shrugged off the impact at the time, Friday’s news has us worried there was something more to that event.

Best wishes to Frazier, who will lose playing time to new arrival Tim Locastro in the meantime, but who has a bright big-league future ahead of him.

His departure from New York at this particular trade deadline now seems completely unlikely, but the far more important thing for Frazier and the Yankees is making sure his future — even beyond baseball — is secure.

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