The beginning of 2019 saw Adam Frazier faced with plenty of questions involving his defense at second base.
Now, through a bunch of hard work and a surprisingly good season, Frazier has been named a National League Rawlings Gold Glove finalist for his work at second base.
St. Louis Kolten Wong and Atlantaโs Ozzie Albies are the others. The winner will be revealed Nov. 3.
#Rawlings #GoldGlove Award Finalists โ NL 2B โ @Braves @Ozzie, @cardinals @KoltenWong, @Pirates @A_Fraz12 pic.twitter.com/5O1778ECsc
โ Rawlings Sports (@RawlingsSports) October 24, 2019
Among qualifying NL second baseman, only Albies (.994) had a better fielding percentage than Frazier (.989), who made just six errors over 142 games, including 133 starts.
Frazier also had an Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of 2.9 that ranked second among qualifiers as well.
Frazier slashed .278/.336/.417 this season with 10 home runs, 80 runs and 50 RBIs.
Although he started the season in a slump, Frazier became the Piratesโ every-day second baseman, and his defense took off.
The repetition helped. So did the chemistry with Kevin Newman at shortstop. And thereโs a good chance that Frazier begins the 2020 season as the Piratesโ starter at second base as well.
โThis year Iโve gotten extensive time at second,โ Frazier said in September. โItโs helped a lot.
โI feel like Iโve proven I can be an every-day second baseman. Iโve done pretty well there. Itโs just a matter of finding the bat again offensively and showing I can impact the lineup every day.โ
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: October 24, 2019, 7:24 p.m.
