Should the Yankees Give Clint Frazier a Look in Center Field?

With Aaron Hicks likely done for the season after opting to undergo surgery to repair a torn sheath in his wrist, the New York Yankees are now stuck trying to find ways to fill the void in center field.

The Yankees outfield depth has been ravaged by injuries this month with the loss of Hicks, Ryan LaMarre and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who is dealing with a quad issue.

If general manager Brian Cashman had a crystal ball, he probably wouldn’t have traded backup center fielder Mike Tauchman to the San Francisco Giants in April.

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently reported that the Yankees were talking to the Texas Rangers about center fielder Delino DeShields as a potential trade target. DeShields is off to a great start for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting .365/.441/.577 with two runs and seven RBIs.

For now, the Yankees have opted to start their longest-tenured player, 37-year-old Brett Gardner, in center field. While Gardner had a tough 6-for-47 (.128) stretch following the first week of the season, he has reached base 10 times in his last seven games with a .320/.370/.440 slash line during that span.

According to Baseball Savant, Gardner ranks in the 64th percentile in MLB in outs above average on defense. He also has played 568 career games in center, including 98 back in the 2019 season when the Yankees dealt with a slew of injuries. However, it is not necessarily fair to expect him to be able to play every day out there at his age.

This is why Yankees manager Aaron Boone has another plan, to give Clint Frazier a start in center soon. As Boone also noted, Frazier is very “excited” for the opportunity.

Although he has only played nine big league innings in center, Frazier started 292 games out there in the minors, so he is more than familiar with the position.

Clint Frazier talks about the possibility of playing centerfield for the Yankees

"I'm excited...I joked around, Boonie came right up to me while I was tying my shoe in the locker room today and I looked up at him and said 'centerfield huh?'" pic.twitter.com/pbs0is9zIX
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 26, 2021

Despite a bumpy reputation with the glove early on in his career, Frazier finished in the 80th percentile in OAA in 2020 and was a Gold Glove finalist in left field. This year, he is off to a poor start defensively, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in center field if and when Boone decides to play him there.

At the very least, the Yankees could platoon the right-handed hitting Frazier with the lefty Brett Gardner until the front office makes a move to bring in a regular center fielder. But in the meantime, this duo is going to need to carry the load.

Luckily, like Gardner, Frazier is starting to heat up at the plate as well. Frazier is 5-for-7 in his last two games since returning to the lineup after dealing with neck stiffness. Due to the loss of Hicks, the Yankees will need both bats to find more consistency this season if they hope to keep up their winning ways.

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