PITTSBURGH — Adam Frazier got a double treat on Thursday night. The Indianapolis Indians were playing in Gwinnett, Georgia, which is 45 miles from his home town of Athens, and his parents were able to make the drive and take in a game.
With his family in town, he got some news: he was being called up to Pittsburgh.
“Last night after the game in Gwinnett, we had a team meeting,” Frazier said. “That’s usually how we’ve done it throughout the year. We’ll have a team meeting and at the end, [Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor will] let guys know if they’re going up. … That was a pretty good moment.”
Frazier has had lots of good moments with Indianapolis this season. The shortstop-turned-utilityman has played all over the diamond while leading the International League in hitting with a .333 batting average.
The combination of the hot bat and his defensive versatility made the Pirates think they had something they could use in the majors.
“He’s a backyard ball player,” Clint Hurdle described. “He went down and played multiple positions in Indianapolis. He was leading the league in hitting at the time he was called up and the splits are like five points apart, right-handed versus left-handed.
“He’s done well everywhere he’s been. We believe that kind of versatility and the offense … can help us off the bench and when he gets the opportunity to make a spot start at this level.
“This is a real good story. This a guy that’s grown up in our organization, worked hard, has been under the radar for a long time, and made his own way. The coaches have helped a long the way, but this guy deserves a lot of credit because he has a lot of grit and toughness.”
Frazier said that Hurdle just told him to “come in ready to play and when your number is called, do your best.” They’re still working out exactly what Frazier’s role will be, but he’s likely to see time at up to six positions while also being a bench bat or a fill-in starter. He made his debut in the middle of last night’s game, playing second base as part of a double switch, and going 1-for-2 with a single in his first at-bat.
Frazier said his approach at the plate this season has been about doing what he knows he can do. At 5-foot-11 and 179 pounds, hitting for power isn’t necessarily one of those things.
“I just try to stay within myself,” he said. “I’m not the biggest, strongest guy. When I try to do too much is when I usually get in trouble. I just try to use my hands to stay in the middle of the field and usually it works out.”
It’s really worked out. As Tim Williams wrote, Frazier has been able to hit the ball to all fields and use his speed to take extra bases, which has helped make up for his lack of power.
Now, Frazier will have to transition that approach to something that can work as a part-time player or a pinch-hitter, something that can be difficult for young players.
“That’s always going to be the challenge,” Hurdle said. “Your guys that are on the bench were all at one time players somewhere else every day. That’s a transition point.”
Frazier has a little bit of experience, as he came off the bench for a month or so in Altoona last year, but he admitted he took a while for him to get comfortable.
It’s not a process that is new to Hurdle, who went through it himself as a player. He said the team does everything it can to make the situation as normal as possible.
“We’ll put them on the velocity machine between innings. They watch video. We keep them active defensively. You do all the work you can do to try and recreate some of [a starting experience]. There has to be a buy-in. You have to say, ‘This is what I’ve got. I’m going to be the best guy I can be in this spot right now.'”
Sean Rodriguez successfully made that transition in 2009 and has made a long career out of being a solid bench option. He said it requires some patience and some versatility.
“You’re thinking about what you can do to help the team out,” Rodriguez said. “It might be them moving you around, it might be you only playing one position. You don’t know that until the games start. You know that you’re versatile, but you don’t know how the manager is going to be able to utilize you.”
He also said that pinch-hitting, in particular, is something that can be difficult, even for experienced Major League hitters.
“It’s actually a conversation that can get tossed around between everyday guys and bench guys,” Rodriguez said. “They say, ‘I don’t know how you guys do it.'”
How do they do it?
“You have to lower your expectations,” Rodriguez said. “If I’m trying to get a hit coming off the bench, [statistically], it’s probably not going to happen. … I stick to my plan and try to put together a good at-bat while getting on base. It’s hard to do.”
With Rodriguez, Josh Harrison and now Frazier, the Pirates have a few players that can play multiple positions. Hurdle said they give him the ability to shrink his bench occasionally for an extra reliever or use his pinch hitters in the most appropriate offensive situation without having to worry about defense later on has been.
“You can plug them in at any place at any time,” he said. “It gives you the opportunity to carry one guy that can spot up for five spots. We’re looking for a couple guys on the bench that can play multiple spots like that.”
