Frazier is next heartwarming story for Pittsburgh Pirates

In Adam Frazier, the Pittsburgh Pirates may have one of the most surprising and heartwarming stories of the summer.

 

It must be something about the sixth round of the first-year player draft. In 2008, the Chicago Cubs drafted utilityman Josh Harrison out of the University of Cincinnati. In 2013, Adam Frazier was lost in the attention surrounding highly-touted Pittsburgh Pirates draft picks Austin Meadows and Reese McGuire.

Frazier was a Mississippi State University product taken in the sixth round that year. As a utility infielder in college, Frazier put on a show in batting practice. He operated simply as an intelligent hitter in game situations. Frazier understood his limitations. Unlike so many young hitters, he rarely tried to swing under the ball and drive it. At 5’11” and 174 lbs., he was unlikely to ever be a power hitter, but he did drive the ball to all fields and work counts.

The result was a player with a .352 average his junior year as the only player on the team to start every game in both his junior and sophomore seasons. The 2012 SEC tournament MVP ranked at the top of the leaderboards, or very close to it, in most offensive categories in each of his last two seasons. His projected ceiling held him back on draft day. His complete lack of power and general lack of any tool proficiency made many scouts believe he would be a player who would struggle to consistently remain on major league rosters.

However, the writing was on the wall from the very beginning that Frazier would be special. Frazier was a diligent student of the game and a superior worker, much like the man with whom he has been repeatedly compared throughout his minor league career Josh Harrison. In high school, he was an honors student and the captain of his high school baseball team.

With each passing year, Alen Hanson, Cole Tucker, Kevin Newman, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Kevin Kramer, and more received considerable praise, while Frazier very much conspicuously as inconspicuously continued to excel as a hitter and at least a competent utilityman defensively. Only at Bradenton in 2014 did Frazier hit under .321 for the season, when he hit .252. Defensively, he can play second base and the outfield better than most utility players.

While Frazier has earned the right to prove his detractors wrong, they have been mostly right in their original assumptions. Frazier never homered during his collegiate career. He hit just three home runs to date in the minors. He has proved them wrong by being a highly successful player in the minors despite lacking power. He was told he was not good enough to stick at any one position, so he has excelled at three of the four positions he has played at regularly.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The writing was on the wall from the very beginning that Frazier would be special.[/perfectpullquote] This season, Frazier leads the International League in batting average and hits; he is also fourth in on-base percentage, including trailing teammate Josh Bell. He was slashing .333/.401/.425 in 261 at-bats with more walks than strikeouts (29/27).

Whether it takes two weeks or two years, as was the case with Harrison, Frazier could very well continue to defy the odds and succeed. He’s clearly never embraced being told he wasn’t good enough. He’s unlikely to stay around for long this stint, regardless of how he performs. This move appears to be simply to provide stability to the bench, but that fact only adds to the story.

That story is one Pirates fans can rally around. In an era where successful players never seem to fail to be in the media, Frazier has had a more traditional journey to the majors. He never garnered the attention or appreciation he’s deserved. Possibly, not since Harrison has a position player been promoted to such little pomp and circumstance. It’s been a while since fans were able to just sit back and enjoy the journey of a prospect struggling, clawing, grasping at the opportunity to realize their dreams from the very first time they pretended to be a star in their backyard.

It’s been a long journey to get here. No one recognizes and appreciates that more than him. Sit back and remember what it feels like to root for a player to defy the odds.

Enjoy the moment, Mr. Frazier. You only get to make your MLB debut once.