Adam Frazier Hitting His Way to the Top of the MLB
For the Pittsburgh Pirates offense, there hasn't been a whole lot of bright spots this season. As a team, they are hitting just .229 and several of their starters have batting averages below the .250 mark. As a team, they took a step in the right direction last night in their 6-4 extra-inning win over the Atlanta Braves, but the success was sparked by the guy who has led the offense all season long. He isn't a flash guy by any means, and just goes about his business quietly day in and day out. He has always been a consistent hitter, with his average ranging around the .270-.290 mark, but through the first month and a half of the season, he has it up to .339.
Adam Frazier has never been a flashy guy and is usually flying under the radar in terms of his offensive performance. On the defensive side, he is a two-time Gold Glove Award nominee but now his offense is standing out as well. He leads all of Major League Baseball with 58 hits this season, being helped out by a 4-5 night last night in the Opener with the Atlanta Braves. It was Frazier's second four-hit game this season, and one of those hits was a game-tying single in the top of the eighth. His short, compact swing, makes it easier for him to just go with the pitch and that is what has made him successful this season. Today, we look at what has made Adam Frazier so successful and how he is continuing to hit the ball the way he does.
Finding Holes in the Infield
When you look at Adam Frazier's stats in baseball savant, the first numbers that jump out at you aren't good ones. His average exit velocity (85.5 mph) and his hard-hit percentage (23.5%) both rank in the bottom 10% in the league and are career-lows for the second baseman. However, for a guy like Frazier who makes a lot of contact, these numbers kind of balance out with his ability to find holes in the defense. Frazier's zone contact percentage sits at 91.6% while his chase contact percentage sits at 80.5%. That means that Frazier is making a lot of contact and making it hard on the defense. Going along with that, he also has one of the best strikeout rates in the league at just 9.9%.
When you are putting the ball in play so much, you are bound to find holes and that is exactly what is working for Frazier. Combine that with his ability to spread the ball around the field, and he is one of the hardest guys to defend against. He pulls the ball 32.7% of the time, hits it straight away 29.7% of the time, and hits it the other way 37.9% of the time. Because of this, teams are forced to play Frazier straight up, and he is able to slap the ball through the natural holes created in the defense. Frazier's swing doesn't generate a lot of power with how short and compact it is, but one thing it does do is allow for those slap hits to right and left. This is where Frazier has made his living throughout his career and has been another part of his success.
It isn't like Frazier is just constantly poking balls past a diving shortstop for each of his hits. He actually hits more line drives than anything, hitting them at a 35.3% clip. That is followed by his 33.3 groundball percentage and 22.9 fly ball percentage. Because he is not elevating the ball as much as in years past, defenders have less and less time to get to his batted balls. 37.9% of his contact this year has been flared into the outfield and he has taken advantage of this. An example of that was in his game-tying eighth-inning at-bat where he just flared the ball into centerfield scoring Ben Gamel. It is hits like these that have made him so successful and that he is hoping to build on moving forward.
His Standing in the MLB and In Pittsburgh
As we said before, it is usually Adam Frazier's defensive play that earns him recognition, but this season his offense has caught up. After going 4-5 with a double and an RBI in last night's game, Frazier now leads the MLB with 58 hits this season. He sits to hits above Boston's Xander Bogaerts and three above third-place JD Martinez. Not only that, but he also ranks fourth in the MLB in batting average at .339. Because of his consistent ability to get the bat on the ball, he is very hard to strike out. He has just 19 strikeouts all season, and can't be found in the top 150 players in terms of strikeouts on MLB.com. Frazier has always been a contact hitter throughout his career but he is taking that to a new level in 2021.
However, with the Pirates in rebuild mode, the bad news with that is that he might be hitting his way out of Pittsburgh. Frazier is making 4.3 million this year, and the Pirates have one more year of control over him in 2022 before he becomes a free agent in the 2023 season. Just from his performance at the start of the season, you can bet he is looking at another pay increase for the 2022 season. At 29-years-old, Frazier is on the cusp between being a young guy and a veteran, and you could make the argument that the Pirates could extend him. If the Pirates are to be competitive again in the 2023 to 2025 window, that would put Frazier at between 31 and 33 years old at that time. That isn't too old for a ballplayer, but with so many middle infielders in the system, there might just not be room for Frazier.
Despite his best efforts, I am under the impression that Adam Frazier will be traded at this trade deadline. The move does make sense because Frazier's trade value is higher than it has ever been and could bring in a nice prospect haul. There are many teams around the league who could use the services of a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman who is also hitting .339. It will be a tough goodbye when Frazier leaves, but if Ben Cherington is sticking to his guns, it is a move that ultimately has to be made. However, Pirates fans will still get a couple more months of seeing Frazier at the top of the lineup as he climbs the ladder towards leading the MLB in hits all season long.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (18-25) look to keep the success going in game two of their four-game series against the Atlanta Braves (20-24) tonight at 7:20 pm. It is the battle of the Andersons as Tyler Anderson (3-3, 3.50) takes the ball for the Pirates against Ian Anderson (3-1, 3.20) for the Braves. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.
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