PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Taken away from his teammates during the game on Sunday, Adam Frazier won’t be forgotten.
“You talk about a guy that played every day,” said catcher Jacob Stallings, admittedly one of his best friends. “Was kind of like an anchor at the top of the order. Always played hard. Never took a day off, never took an at bat off. Obviously the Padres got a good player.”
“It was awesome,” said Ke’Bryan Hayes. “The little time I got to play with him, even in Spring Training. The way he goes about his business every day. He has that same consistent routine every day and he’s a really great guy.”
“The greatest athletes in the world have that consistent routine from the time they wake up until they go to bed each day.”
“I’ve learned a lot from Frazier,” said his immediate replacement at second base Rodolfo Castro. “I’ve always had my eyes on him. Even when I came up to the big leagues, I watched everything he did one of the biggest things I took away from Adam is his confidence.”
“He’s a guy that doesn’t overpressure himself. He doesn’t let the game speed up on him. Even if something doesn’t go his way, he remains confident. Very chill, very calm, very confident in his preparation and his routine. When he comes out here, you see his confidence show out.”
“A lot of things Adam Frazier did in his time in Pittsburgh that we hope that some of our younger players exemplify,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “The ability to shorten up his swing take his hits. Go out consistently on a daily basis and give us really quality at bats.”
“I will go back to the San Francisco series. We won a game because he scored from second base on a ground ball hit to the first baseman. I think our young players throughout the organization can take from what Adam Frazier did here.”
Frazier flew on the Pirates team charter even after the trade on Sunday. Hayes used that opportunity to pick the All-Star’s brain.
“I talked to him a little bit on the plane when we headed back,” Hayes said. “One thing that stuck out to me that he told me, that I already try to do. He said to treat every day like it’s brand new. That your batting average is zero, just go in there every day with a clean slate and have positive thoughts.”
A Pirates sixth round pick in 2013, Frazier played his first MLB game in 2016. He bounced around to different positions and eventually became a Gold Glove finalist at second base. Even in the last year, Frazier improved his average 94 points after a down 2020.
“I hope that guys watched the way he played,” Stallings said. “He’s worked to where he’s gotten. He wasn’t always an All-Star. He worked his butt off to get to that point. He will work his butt off to stay at that level.”