Todd Frazier: Former New Jersey Born Mets Third Baseman (2018 - 2020)
Frazier grew up in Toms River, New Jersey & was part of the 1988 Little League World Champions dubbed the "beasts from the East". The name came from their geographic location as well as the team's lucky charm, which was a stuffed gorilla.
The team had won the New Jersey state Championship & the US East regional championship to advance to the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Toms River team went undefeated in the tournament beating the International-champion Kashima Little League from Kashima, Japan.
Todd Frazier was the star of the team & in that final game. He started the game at short stop went 4-4 & had a lead off HR. Later he came in to pitch & he was the games winning pitcher of record, sealing the 12-9 win with a strike out.
MLB Career: Frazier spent five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, debuting on May 11th, 2011. Two games later he doubled & drove in three runs for his first career RBIs. In 2011 he played 41 games batting .232In 2012 the Reds won 97 games & won the NL Central. Todd came in third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting hitting 19 HRs 67 RBIs & batting .273. In a May series against the New York Mets, he belted two HRs at Citi Field one off Johan Santana & one-off D.J. Carasco thrilling his family & friends in attendance that day. He had a great August batting .330 with 6 HRs & 25 RBIs collecting 36 hits, winning him the NL Rookie of the Month award. That year he hit 19 HRs with 26 triples & 67 RBIs.
2012 Post Season: In NLDS loss to the eventual Champion San Francisco Giants, he drove in a run going 1-6. He had a similar year the next season batting .234 with 19 HRs & improving to 73 RBIs. Although the Reds came in third place, they won 90 games & qualified for a wild card spot getting to their second consecutive post season.
2013 Post Season: In 2013 he doubled going 1-4 in the Wild Card game loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 2014 he raised his average to .273 & hit 29 HRs driving in 80 runs making the first of two straight All-Star Teams.
2014 All Star Game: Frazier was a huge hit for the fans, in the 2014 Mid-Summer Classic playing for the Reds, while starting at third base as the game was held at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. He was the All-Star Game spokesperson & won the HR Derby as well. He was the first hometown player to win the derby since Ryne Sandberg did it in 1990. He won the NL bracket of the derby the year before, losing to Yoenis Cespedes. Frazier went 0-3 in the 6-3 NL All Star loss.He followed up with his biggest year as a Red, in 2015 as he hit 35 HRs with 89 RBIs batting .255. That year he hit his first grand slam HR. On the downside Frazier struck out over 100 times for six straight years.
In December of 2015 he was part of a three-team trade that landed him with the Chicago White Sox.
In Chicago for the 4th place Sox in the 2016 season, he had career highs with 40 HRs 98 RBIs & 89 runs scored. The slugger once again was a star in the HR derby coming in second place to Giancarlo Stanton. After the season he signed a one-year deal to stay with the White Sox. In late July he was traded to the AL New York team whom he had grown up being a fan of. For the year his average fell to .213 but hit 27 HRs with 19 doubles & 76 RBIs in 147 games. In the ALCS loss to the World Champion Houston Astros, Frazier hit a three run HR in Game #3.
In February 2017 he inked a two-year $17 million deal with the New York Mets. He was to be the solution to the Mets third base woes since losing David Wright to his ongoing back injury. Mets Career: Frazier got the Opening Day start playing third & batting fifth. He got one hit in the Mets Opening Day win. The next day, he delighted the fans with a 1st inning two run double, then added a sac fly RBI later in the Mets 9-4 win at Citi Field. He would collect two hits & drive in a run two days later in the Mets 2-0 win over the Phillies.
On April 13th, he hit two HRs in the Mets 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. In the Mets ten game win streak to start out the year, Frazier had five RBIs with nine hits. Trivia: He is the originator of the Mets salt & pepper trademark, the twisting of both hands as turning a pepper grinder, after reaching base with a key hit. Unfortunately, there wasn't much more of that as the dismal season went on.
He peaked at .313 but then his hitting fell off. He closed out April with 4 HRs &17 RBIs.
On May 8th he suffered the first hamstring injury of his career, he would miss a month of action. In June he hit two HRs in that years version of the subway series, including driving in both runs to hurt his old team in Seth Lugo's 2-0 Mets win on June 10th. He then drove in runs in three straight games at Coors Field in Colorado.
In July he suffered a rib cage injury & went down again, missing almost another full month of action. After his return he had a nine-game hit streak, where he drove in ten runs. On August 15th in the Mets 16-5 blow out of the Orioles at Camden Yards, he collected three hits, a HR & drove in four runs. By mid August his batting average fell almost below .200.
In late August Frazier hit HRs in three of four games, then on August 29th, he hit a grand slam HR at Wrigley Field in Chicago in a 10-3 Mets win. He had two hits with five RBIs on the day. An uneventful September had him have another multi-RBI game (4) but hit just two HRs in the month.A very disappointing season ended up with Frazier batting a dismal .13 with 18 HRs 18 doubles & 59 RBIs with a .303 on base % in 115 games. He struck out 112 times with 48 walks. In 109 games at third he posted a .959 fielding % with 12 errors & 28 double plays turned.
2019: He started out the year on the injured list with a strained left oblique. He was back with the club, debuting on April 22nd. The next day he hit a grand slam HR in a 9-0 Mets blow out of the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.He would struggle thru the early part of May when his average fell to a low of .143. He got back into the lineup more & began to hit, where he was able to get to the .250 mark by the end of the month.
In June he hit with more power, enjoying another four RBI Day on June 9th, in a win over Colorado. In the last nine games of June, he hit five HRs & had ten RBIs. In July he helped the Mets go on two big win streaks, putting them in the wild card playoff hunt. On July 6th, he was one of three Mets batters hit by pitched from Jake Arrietta of the Phils, in a 6-5 Mets win. Frazier barked at Arietta on the bases & Arietta complained about it in the media.
On July 25th, he led a four run Mets 1st inning, with a two run double, helping Jacob deGrom & the bullpen in a shut out of the San Diego Padres. The next day he homered in a win over the Pirates.
In August he had three hits & three RBIs in a 13-2 Mets win at Pittsburgh. His biggest hit of the year came on August 9th at Citi Field. After the Mets fell behind the Washington Nats 6-3, they rallied in the 9th inning.
On August 30th, Frazier hit two HRs & drove in a career high six runs in an 11-5 win at Philadelphia. He would have another multi HR game on September 11th, as the Mets swept Arizona in a three game set at Citi Field. Frazier drove in all three runs the night before in the Mets 3-2 win & hit a HR in the third game as well. In that series he had five hits, three HRs with seven RBIs.
The Mets faded from the race but had a productive year, Frazier was not in their future plans as he was let go to free agency. In his 2019 season he batted .251 with 21 HRs 19 doubles 67 RBIs & a .329 on base % with 63 runs scored, playing primarily at third base (120 games). In his two years with the Mets, he struck out 218 times in 855 at bats.Post Mets Career: In January of 2020 he signed a deal with the Texas Rangers. After spending 31 games with Texas during the Covid19 shortened season, Frazier returned to the Mets in an August 31st trade, for a player to be named later.
Second Go-Around with Mets: In his second game back, he hit a HR against his old AL New York team, in a game the Mets won a Pete Alonso walk off HR.
In an eleven-year career he has 1059 hits with 218 HRs 212 doubles 640 RBIs a .241 batting average & a .318 on base % with a .763 OPS.
Family: Frazier has two brothers who have played minor league baseball with his one brother Jeff playing nine games at the big-league level with the Detroit Tigers.
Trivia: Todd is a big fan of fellow Jersey Boy; Frank Sinatra & had Sinatra music play when he came to bat.
Frazier would hit one last HR on September 23rd. In 14 games he batted .224. Frazier made his pitching debut in a September 18th game against the Braves. He even struck out a batter in one inning of work.
He became a free agent after the season & signed on with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in just 13 games in 2021 batting .086 before ending his career.
In an eleven-year career he has 1059 hits with 218 HRs 212 doubles 640 RBIs a .241 batting average & a .318 on base % with a .763 OPS. Trivia: He averaged 20.1 at bats with a HR (158th best all time).
With the slugging comes 1079 career strikes outs. He has played in 1231 games, 1066 at third base & 113 at first base. He has turned 198 double plays at third base (77th most all time).
Family: Frazier has two brothers who have played minor league baseball with his one brother Jeff playing nine games at the big-league level with the Detroit Tigers.Todd married his longtime girlfriend Jackie a Jersey girl & former Rutgers gymnast. Together they have two children & live in Toms River, NJ. The town's little league field is now named after Frazier.
Trivia: Todd is a big fan of fellow Jersey Boy; Frank Sinatra & had Sinatra music play when he came to bat.