MINNEAPOLIS -- Todd Frazier had been away from the Pirates’ major league team for about a month, and has spent most of that time at the team’s alternate training site.
There, the Latin players came up with a nickname for him, one that has stuck now that Frazier is back in the majors.
“Grandpa.”
“Which is fine. I get a good laugh out of it,” Frazier said Saturday.
At 35, Frazier is the oldest player on the Pirates’ roster, two years the senior of the next closest player, Saturday’s starter Trevor Cahill. It’s a young group, and most of the players at the alternate site are even younger than that.
“They ask a lot of questions,” Frazier said. “It’s a bright group.”
Pitchers wanted to know if they were executing pitches. Fielders wanted his input on positioning. Will Craig was looking for tips on playing first base. When he got that one, Frazier joked that Craig was the minor-league Gold Glover at that position. Frazier has spent most of his career at third base, and told him, “Man, you tell me what to do.”
For a group like that, having a two-time All-Star in camp was a great fit. It was a bit unexpected that he was even there, though.
Frazier came into spring training knowing he had to earn a job. Near the end of camp, He opted out of his minor-league deal after being told he did not make the team. Instead, his potential roster spot went to Phillip Evans.
It was a decision that came to a surprise to many at the time, but not to Frazier.
“I knew he was definitely going to make the team, and if it came down to me and him, I knew it was going to be him because he had an even better spring training than me, to be honest with you,” Frazier said. “That's just calling a spade a spade.”
Evans has cooled a bit since his red-hot start, but is still slashing an impressive .258/.338/.470 with four home runs and one of the best hard-hit rates in baseball.
Frazier has started 0-for-7 with the Pirates, though that includes a 412-foot fly out in the cavernous Comerica Park center field.
Frazier had an opportunity to explore his options, but ultimately decided shortly before spring training concluded to sign again with the Pirates, agreeing to go to the alternate site.
“I told myself, 'Listen, I'm comfortable with the team here,’ ” Frazier said. “They know me, and I'm one step away from getting up there, and I knew I was going to get an opportunity, whether it was now or down the road.”
That opportunity came this week, once Ke’Bryan Hayes aggravated his left wrist injury again during batting practice Wednesday. The Pirates made the decision to select his contract off the taxi squad Thursday to provide some depth at the hot corner.
“You feel like you’re getting called up again for the first time,” he said. “The excitement, the guys are happy, you’re happy. You feel that air when you’re stretching before the game. You’re very humbled and you know what? You really don’t take that for granted.”
Frazier’s promotion came one day after the Pirates had promoted Rodolfo Castro, a 21-year-old infielder who was getting his first taste of the majors.
“It's definitely not same-same,” Derek Shelton joked about what it was like to tell Castro, and then Frazier, they were on the team. “But the excitement level was pretty cool from Fraz, and I think that's just because he's a baseball guy.”
Both Frazier and Castro have gone through taxi squad life this year. Get to the ballpark, workout with the team, head back to your hotel and watch the game there. At the alternate site, the day starts at Heinz Field for stretching before heading to an all-turf field at Pitt.
There aren’t too many players who would go through that process to try to play an 11th year in the majors.
“I could have packed it in this year and been happy,” Frazier said. “But I know myself. I told my wife I don't want to look back in 10-15 years [after] not putting my best foot forward and at least giving it one more shot. Because it's baseball.”
That’s what brought Frazier to the Pirates’ alternate site and eventually back to the MLB team. He isn’t quite ready to hang it up yet and feels he has more to offer in the majors. Not just as a mentor, but as a player.
“I feel like I have some good years ahead of me. I'm not saying years meaning five or 10, maybe one or two. At the end of the day, I'm realistic. I understand, what I can do and can't do. I’ll know when I need to get off. I want to play as long as I can and this year. I got another chance to do it, so why not make the best of it?”