At Citi Field on Tuesday, nine hours before Todd Frazier was scheduled to take the field against the Chicago Cubs, a group of about 100 Little League players took to the outfield to learn how to hit like a major leaguer. They were told to use Frazier, the Mets’ two-time All-Star third baseman — and a founder of the baseball camp that the young players were attending — as a prime example of what not to do.
“How many times has he done this?” Rocco Mellott, one of the camp’s coaches, said as he held his bat high and stuck his butt out before unfurling a less-than-textbook swing.
Mellott, a longtime friend of the Frazier family, then offered a curt assessment of his boss’s prowess with a bat.
“He’s an average hitter, but he gets the job done.”
Frazier has, at times, been one of the better hitters in Major League Baseball. He has also had his fair share of weird swings. Sometimes his exuberance resulted in viral moments, like in Game 3 of the 2017 American League Championship Series, when he slapped at an extremely low pitch and managed to knock it out of the park. That one is still talked about at his camp.
“For me, it’s tough,” Frazier said. “I’m one of those guys where I can look very pretty in the cage and then on the field my aggressive nature takes over.”
The camp at Citi Field was organized by Frazier and his older brothers, Charlie and Jeff. It’s part of Frazier Baseball, the business they started in 2012 that consists of camps, team training and private lessons. The brothers hold camps all over New Jersey, their home state, and after Todd signed with the Mets last year, they hosted their first session on a major league field.
Charlie and Jeff Frazier aim to teach the next generation of players the right way to hit, even if it means poking fun at their “little” brother.
“They ask all the time,” Charlie Frazier, the oldest of the brothers, said about Todd’s odd swing. “Our technique is just trying to keep it simple, staying short to the ball, not trying to have a long swing.”
Todd Frazier is able to laugh at himself, admitting that there is plenty that the campers can learn from him about how not to play. Early in his career he was able to get away with sacrificing his technique because, he said, he knew he could rely on his power if his swing was off. Now 33, he is honing his form in an attempt to extend his career.
“I was raw when I was younger,” he said. “I was a guy that just went up there gripping and ripping.”
An extended slump this season has limited Frazier to 16 home runs, and his batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are all below the averages for his nine-year career. Injuries account for some of that, but in the thick of it, Frazier went back to basics, just as they teach in the family business.
At the end of a disastrous July, he found himself taking swings off a tee, just like his campers. He worked on putting his front foot down sooner, and he figured out the best spot to put his hands so he can stay balanced, careful not to keep them too far back on the bat so he can maintain control. He practiced slowing his swing, making sure not to let his aggressive side take over.
The effort has yet to yield results: Ahead of Thursday’s game against the Cubs, he had a .176 batting average and a .219 on-base percentage so far this month.
Frazer, though, would not be deterred. He said he sometimes came to the park as early as 7 a.m. for a noon game or 1 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game. He pored over video, looking back at footage from earlier in his career, when he was with the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, trying to figure out what worked for him then and how he could recapture some of it.
Sometimes, he said, it took him 20 swings to get it right. Other times, close to 100. He’s continued to do this every day, even though nothing has clicked.
“It’s like taking a test: You do your homework and you should pass it,” Frazier said, “but baseball is the hardest test in the world.”
His two-year, $17 million contract with the Mets expires at the end of the season, and, as he settles into what is typically a decline phase for a player, a contract extension could be in jeopardy if he doesn’t improve. Frazier has dropped to the eighth spot in the lineup, after hitting in the fifth and sixth spots most of the season. Other times, he has been taken out of the lineup altogether in favor of the versatile Jeff McNeil, who can fill in at just about any position.
When his career is over, Frazier said, he would “without a doubt” become more involved in the family business, taking the opportunity to coach regularly. But for now, he said, he is focused on the rest of the season, hoping to turn his individual results around as the Mets surge toward a potential wild-card playoff bid.
“I love this game and want to play as long as I can,” he said. “If I can play forever, I would.”