Adam Frazier

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Adam Timothy Frazier

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Biographical Information[edit]

Adam Frazier made it to the majors in 2016.

Amateur Career[edit]

He hit .447 as a high school sophomore, .510 as a junior and .524 as a senior to win All-State honors the last two years. He also set the school's freshman scoring record in basketball with 29 points in a game. He hit .269/.289/.269 as a college freshman, while fielding .974. Becoming a starter as a sophomore, he produced at a .371/.482/.445 clip with 50 walks and 45 runs in 64 games. He was third in the Southeastern Conference in hits, second in walks (one behind Christian Walker), 3rd in average and second in OBP (.007 behind leader Raph Rhymes). He was picked for the US college team and was 0 for 4 in the 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week, their biggest event of the year (the US finished 3rd). He backed up Trea Turner at 2B.

As a junior at Mississippi State, he hit .352/.398/.464 with 20 doubles, 7 triples and 62 runs in 71 games. He went 61 straight at-bats without fanning at one point. He was second in the SEC in runs (two behind Tony Kemp), led in hits (107, 3 ahead of Kemp and Alex Bregman), led in doubles (one ahead of Michael Yastrzemski) and was 4th with 141 total bases (between Bregman and L.B. Dantzler). He broke Brian Wiese's team record for hits (103 in 1998). He did not make All-SEC as Kemp was picked at 2B. The Pittsburgh Pirates took him in the 6th round of the 2013 amateur draft, one pick after Trevor Gott. The scout was Darren Mazeroski.

Minors[edit]

Frazier had a strong pro debut with the Jamestown Jammers, getting hits in his first five games en route to a .321/.389/.362 season while fielding .959 at SS and .975 at 2B. He was third in the New York-Penn League in average (behind Steven Ramos and Trey Mancini) and he was second in OBP (.006 behind Isaac Ballou).

With the Bradenton Marauders in 2014, he slumped to .252/.307/.309 but did hit his first home run, taking Rob Zastryzny deep. He had not homered in either college or the pros till then. He led Florida State League shortstops with 84 double plays but also made 36 errors, fielding .938 at SS. He rebounded in 2015 with the Altoona Curve despite starting the year on the DL with a broken finger. He played mostly SS (58 games, backing up Gift Ngoepe) and CF (29 games, backing up Keon Broxton). Despite no set position, he hit .324/.384/.416. He lost the Eastern League batting title to Mancini despite having the top average among qualifiers (under Rule 9.22 (a), hitless at-bats were added to Mancini till he had enough plate appearances to qualify, still putting him ahead of Frazier). He was third in OBP, trailing Yandy Diaz and Brock Stassi. He hit .321/.394/.571 in 7 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs to open the Arizona Fall League. He was then a late addition to Team USA for the 2015 Premier 12, replacing the injured Gavin Cecchini.

He wound up starring in the Premier 12, hitting .355/.371/.548 with 7 runs. He had 3 hits against Mexico and scored the winning run in the 10th versus South Korea though he was 0 for 3 in the finale, as the US lost 8-0 in their rematch with South Korea. Frazier was named the tourney's All-Star second baseman, beating out Japanese star Tetsuto Yamada, who had better stats and Taiwan's Chih-Sheng Lin, who led the event in home runs. He was one of two Americans on the All-Star squad; the other was Matt McBride.

He began 2016 with the Indianapolis Indians and was again hitting for excellent contact and OBP (.333/.401/.425 in 68 G) though baserunning was an issue (17 SB, 15 CS). He was playing mostly left and center with Ngoepe at SS and Alen Hanson at 2B. He was leading the 2016 International League in average and hits. He was then called to the majors to replace Cole Figueroa as a utility man for the Pirates.

Majors[edit]

Frazier made his MLB debut on June 24, 2016, in a double switch, replacing Sean Rodriguez at 2B in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He singled off J.P. Howell in his first at-bat and struck out against Chris Hatcher in his other at-bat in a 8-6 win. He got his first RBI a couple of days later against a Cy Young Award winner, singling off Clayton Kershaw to score Josh Harrison. He then scored on a David Freese double as part of a 4-3 win over Kershaw, just his second loss in 13 decisions that season. It was in support of fellow rookie Chad Kuhl, who won his first MLB game. He remained on a tear as a solid bench contributor. On July 25th, he hit just his 4th homer as a pro and his first in the majors at a crucial moment. Batting for Neftali Feliz, he homered off Edubray Ramos to break a 4-4 tie against the Philadelphia Phillies to give the Bucs the win. After that game, his 21st in the majors, he was hitting .359/.405/.590.

On July 1, 2019, he tied the major league record by hitting 4 doubles in a game in which he went 5 for 6 as the Pirates' lead-off hitter against the Chicago Cubs. He also scored 3 runs and drove in 4. It was part of a group effort, as the Bucs had 23 hits in the game and ran off with an 18-5 win. The only other Pirates player to hit 4 doubles in a game was Hall of Famer Paul Waner, back in 1932; he was also not the only Pirates player to get 5 hits in the game, as Colin Moran did so as well. He followed his great day with another one, going 4-for-4 with a homer and 3 RBIs in a 5-1 win over the Cubs on July 2nd. He ended the season at .278 in 152 games, with 80 runs scored, 33 doubles, 7 triples, 10 homers and 50 RBIs, but an OPS+ of just 97 in spite of seemingly good counting stats. In 2020, he fell off considerably, like most Pirates hitters, with a .230 average in 58 games, 7 homers and 23 RBIs. His OPS+ was just 78, a result of a low walk rate. Both years were strong ones on defense as he was a Gold Glove finalist, only to lose out to Kolten Wong.

In 2021, he was excellent during the first half, hitting .330 with 53 runs scored in 89 games. The Pirates were again a last-place team, but he still managed to be voted by fans as the starting second baseman for the 2021 All-Star Game that was played at Coors Field. He was joined by teammate Bryan Reynolds, who was also in the starting line-up as a replacement for injured OF Ronald Acuna. On July 25th, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for three prospects, OF/2B Tucupita Marcano, who had made his major league debut earlier that year, OF Jack Suwinski and P Michell Miliano. He was leading the National League with 125 hits at the time, but the trade was not a surprise, as it was known that the Pirates wanted to trade him while his value was at its highest, as his status as a relative late-bloomer made him unlikely to be a key member of the team in future years. With San Diego, it was not clear where he would fit in, as 2B Jake Cronenworth was also an All-Star, so it was likely that either of the two second basemen would end up in the outfield, or that 1B Eric Hosmer would have to give up his spot to make room. He ended up claiming the second base job for the remainder of the season, and hit .267 in 57 games, his OPS+ falling from an excellent 127 with the Pirates to just 86 in San Diego. His tenure there coincided with the team's collapse, as it fell out of postseason contention. Overall, he batted .305 in 155 games, with 36 doubles, 5 homers, 83 runs and 43 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 114. He led the National League in singles with 130. On November 27th, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for two prospects, P Ray Kerr and OF Corey Rosier.

In his only season with the Mariners in 2022, Frazier helped them break a 21-year skid without a postseason appearance as the team earned a wild card spot in the American League. He was the team's regular second baseman, with 124 games at the position, but also made starts at all three outfield spots, shortstop and designated hitter. He batted .238 with 3 homers and 42 RBIs, scoring 61 runs and driving in 42, for an OPS+ of 80, all in all well below his standards but close to his 2020 performance. He played in the postseason for the first time, going 4 for 9 as Seattle swept the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series at Rogers Centre. He had one of the key hits of Game 2 on October 8th, driving in the winning run in the 9th with a two-out double off closer Jordan Romano to give Seattle a 10-9 win that completed the sweep. He then found the going tougher in the Division Series against the eventual World Champions, the Houston Astros as he was limited 1 hits in 14 at-bats. Following the season, he became a free agent and on December 15th signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles for $8 million. The much-improved Orioles were looking at him as a utility player capable at starting both at second base and in the outfield, but on opening day, he was the starting second baseman against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on March 30th. He ended up playing 141 games for Baltimore, hitting .240 with 13 homers and 60 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 94. He was almost exclusively a second baseman, with only 10 games in the outfield for the team that posted the best record in the American League during the regular season. In the postseason, he went 0 for 5 as the O's were swept in three games by the Texas Rangers in the Division Series.

With the Orioles chock-full of young infielders, including Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson and Minor League Player of the Year Jackson Holliday, there was no place long-term for Adam to remain with the team and the Orioles did not attempt to re-sign him when he became a free agent after the 2023 season. On January 27, 2024, he signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals for $2 million, with an option for either a second year at $8.5 million, or a $2.5 million buy-out in 2025.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • NL All-Star (2021)
  • NL Singles Leader (2021)

Records Held[edit]

  • Tied MLB record by hitting four doubles in a game, July 1, 2019

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jake Rill: "O's sign versatile Frazier to fill multiple holes", mlb.com, December 15, 2022. [1]
  • Anne Rogers: "Royals, Adam Frazier agree on deal", mlb.com, January 27, 2024. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

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