Back Comes Frazier

He's the been odd man out in the Yankees outfield almost since the moment he arrived in the Andrew Miller trade. Injuries, defensive glitches, attitude questions -- all have held Clint Frazier back from what might be expected from the 5th overall pick in the 2013 draft.

Wednesday night in his first game action of 2020, Frazier flashed that promise again -- with his hits his first three times up, including a home run -- as he filled in for Aaron Judge. Yet, he mostly remains trade bait; as a righthanded hitter on an unusually righty-heavy Yankee club, his path is not only blocked by Judge and the ever-brittle Giancarlo Stanton, but by longtime Yankee Brett Gardner and toolsy Mike Tauchman.

Is he in line to be the next Jay Buhner, whom George Steibrenner happily sacrificed for Ken Phelps? Or is he destined to be Ricky Ledee or Ruben Rivera, who never lived up to their hype either in New York or elsewhere? Or does he wait his turn on a team where injuries always shake up the roster.

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