Before this season, Matthew Fraizer’s last home run came on March 1, 2019.
At that time, he was a junior at Arizona, a rangy outfielder entering draft eligibility again. Fraizer’s draft scouting report on Baseball America gave him gap-to-gap power with solid speed, but more doubles than home runs.
The Pirates took him in the third round of that year’s draft, and he headed to Low-A West Virginia, where he slashed .221/.287/.266 with no homers, five doubles and a triple.
Then Fraizer went to the instructional league that offseason and attended hitting camps in Florida, and he made an adjustment that may have changed his career trajectory.
“My contact point was really deep,” Fraizer said Thursday. “Generally trying to hit the ball inside my body, which I always thought was correct. Looked at the data, and they said, ‘For you to get the most out of your swing, the contact point, have it more out front.’”
The problem from there is that Fraizer didn’t have much of a place to show that his adjustments were working. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the minor league season, so Fraizer instead worked out in his backyard and took some batting practice with his dad at their home near Frisco, Calif.
He eventually went out to Arizona to hit with some other professional players, then went straight to 2021 spring training without a strong idea of whether changing his contact point would pay off once his next season began.
“He was on the right track to put himself in the position where he’s being able to do now,” manager Kieran Mattison said. “[Blake Butler] and [Ruben Gotay], our hitting coaches here in Greensboro, just basically tightened up a few details that he needed to get himself in a good position, and then the mental part just kind of kicked in and he started proving it to himself, and then he just kind of took off.”
At least so far, Fraizer has transformed as a hitter. Through 48 games at High-A Greensboro this season, the 23-year-old is slashing .306/.386/.523. His 59 hits this season are the most in all of High-A. More strikingly for his track record, he has 11 home runs, tapping into some power that hasn’t existed before.
Mattison saw Fraizer’s new approach click all at once earlier this season.
“One day they took him out — this was like the third week of the season — did some early, on-field hitting, and just worked on hitting the ball out front, and understanding where his body is and balance and where to make contact consistently out front,” Mattison said. “And I remember that same night, he saw it transfer over into the game, and he hit his first home run and it was bullet off of the bat, like a line drive. And then later on in that game, he hit a ball foul, he pulled it really hard and far foul, and I said to Ruben and Blake, ‘Now he knows himself how to make contact out front. Let’s sit back and enjoy this.’”
This is on top of the attributes that already made Fraizer good. He’s an athlete who can play all three outfield positions. He’s played more left field than anything in Greensboro, but that’s because the Pirates would like to introduce him to every position as he moves through the organization. To that point, Mattison said Fraizer will begin to play right field a little more in the near future.
But that’s the part of the game that Fraizer doesn’t have to think about too much. He says the positions all feel similar to him, it’s just a matter of putting in the requisite work to understand the different reads he may get in left or right field as opposed to center. But Mattison says he’s been impressed with Fraizer’s ability in the field before, mentioning a specific play in the 2020 instructional league when Fraizer ran down a ball that wowed all the coaches in attendance.
Instead, Fraizer’s main focus is continuing to swing the bat well. It’s how he stays in the moment at High-A Greensboro, even if his current numbers and age could portend a promotion at some point in the near future.
The difference now is that Fraizer is focusing on a new approach when he steps into the box. He repeats the phrase “slow and early” to himself in every at-bat, reminding himself to start earlier to meet the ball out in front of his body, but to make sure he isn’t rushing through his swing and missing the ball entirely.
Eleven home runs later, it’s an approach that’s worked. Fraizer is still an unranked prospect on the various websites that rank such things. But he’s an unranked prospect who’s leading an entire minor league level in hits and batting leadoff on a High-A Greensboro team littered with top-ranked prospects.
“We turned into fans of some of the stuff he can do. He leads off the game against a left-handed pitcher who has a funky arm slot, and he just hit a towering shot to their scoreboard. It’s special, man,” Mattison said. “... I’ve spoken to other people in the organization: Matthew Fraizer is what development looks like if you had a carbon copy of it.”
TOP 10 REPORT
Numbers through Thursday’s games
1. Nick Gonzales, 2B, High-A Greensboro: Finally returned from a fractured pinky finger on June 26 and promptly smashed a home run in his first at-bat. Hit another homer the next day, but has since gone 0-for-12 in his last three games. Still slashing .250/.325/.514 so far this season.
2. Quinn Priester, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Tallied a season-high seven strikeouts in his last start Tuesday. He still went just four innings, as he and the rest of the pitchers at Greensboro have been on a precautionary pitch count. Has lowered his season ERA to 3.32 and his WHIP to 1.42 with several strong performances in a row.
3. Oneil Cruz, SS, Class AA Altoona: By his standards, you might consider this last week a down one. He hasn’t had a multi-hit game since June 22. Instead, he hit a three-run, opposite-field home run Thursday and made a jaw-dropping, diving play at shortstop to boot. Now he has nine homers, 29 RBIs and 10 stolen bases with a .289 average this season.
4. Liover Peguero, SS, High-A Greensboro: Peguero caught fire as soon as Gonzales returned to the lineup. He has a five-game hitting streak since June 26, including a two-homer, three-RBI effort in the game when Gonzales returned. He’s sitting comfortably at .279/.338/.456 this season.
5. Hudson Head, OF, Low-A Bradenton: Had a seven-game hit streak that ended Friday. Is hitting just .220 this season, but his .399 on-base percentage is a big positive, and he’s started to find some power recently, too, stroking two homers in his last four games.
6. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Thomas has not pitched since his seven-walk effort on June 24. Mattison said he is currently working on his mechanics and his mindset to try to get back to a good strike-throwing base.
“Right now he’s working really hard to get it back on track and just trying to get back to where he can fill up the zone like he was at the beginning of the season,” Mattison said.
7. Brennan Malone, RHP, GCL Pirates: Was moved from Low-A Bradenton to rookie ball for developmental purposes. Had allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings before the move.
8. Travis Swaggerty, OF, Class AAA Indianapolis: Will be out for the remainder of the season after undergoing right shoulder surgery.
9. Cody Bolton, RHP, Class AA Altoona: Likely will not pitch this season after undergoing right knee surgery.
10. Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Had his worst start of the season on June 19, allowing three earned runs in four innings, but bounced back nicely in his most recent outing. He set a season-high with nine strikeouts in six innings, allowing just two hits and an earned run in six innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .186 against him.
Other notables:
- RHP Eddy Yean (#12) absolutely dealt in his last start for Low-A Bradenton, going six innings with nine strikeouts and allowing one hit and no earned runs. That’s a welcome sign for Yean, who has struggled at times this season and still possesses a 5.72 ERA. This was encouraging for the 20-year-old, however.
- The Pirates recalled OF Jared Oliva (#15) to replace first baseman Colin Moran after the latter hit the 10-day injured list. Manager Derek Shelton said that Oliva is, for now, a depth piece on their roster rather than a starting option in most games. He struggled a bit in Class AAA Indianapolis before his call-up, slashing .167/.231/.229 through his first 48 at-bats.
- Also in Low-A Bradenton, RHP Jared Jones (#16) continues to shove. In four innings of work during his last start, he struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits and no runs. That is astoundingly good for the 19-year-old, second-round draft pick.
- Cal Mitchell (#17) had a career game with Class AA Altoona on Thursday, hitting two home runs and tallying four RBIs. The outfielder has bumped his season average up to .306 with eight homers and 29 RBIs.
- LHP Omar Cruz (#22) got the call-up from High-A Greensboro to Class AA Altoona and was clearly unfazed. His first start at the new level was a six-inning effort with no earned runs and five hits against him. He was called up to fill in for Altoona pitcher Osvaldo Bido, who is pitching in Olympic qualifying for the Dominican Republic, but Cruz seems to be making the most of his opportunity early on.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: July 2, 2021, 4:48 p.m.
