Frazier Family Affair in Toledo
Baseball is the one sport that most likely everyone has
played at one point in their lives. Players in the major leagues sometimes have
kids, or relatives, who go on to play at the big league level as well — Ken
Griffey Sr. & Jr., Cecil & Prince Fielder, Felipe & Moises Alou and
the list goes on. Rarely it seems brothers making it to the major leagues –
Roberto & Sandy Alomar, Brett & Aaron Boone, etc., but that list may
soon have another pair of names added to it.
Tonight in Toledo, OH, Tigers AAA outfield prospect Jeff Frazier went up
against his younger brother, Todd, for the first time in their minor league
careers as the Mudhens played host to the Cincinnati Reds’ AAA Louisville Bats.
Toledo won the contest 6-3. Jeff went 2-for-4 with 2 doubles, 2 runs and 1 RBI.
On the other side, his younger brother went 1-for-4 and hit his first home run
in just his second game at AAA. The four game series kicked off tonight and
ends on Wednesday.
The Frazier family is from New Jersey and they live, eat and breathe baseball.
Jeff and Todd’s older brother, Charlie, played in the Florida Marlins system
and reached AA. Jeff is the middle child and Todd, a 2008 first round
supplemental pick, helped Toms River East capture a Little League World Series
title in 1998. Both went on to play at Rutgers, where Todd broke Jeff’s home
run record.
“I remember when we were young, myself and Jeff would play whatever sport
we could play, but we would never let Todd play because we’d say he’s too
little,” Charlie said. “My dad would take the ball away from us and
say, “Hey, you’re only getting the ball back if you let Todd play”
and I think that made Todd a little better because we’d always be beating up on
each other.”
Jeff, 27, is having a solid season in the Tigers’ farm system hitting a
combined .306 with 33 doubles, 12 home runs and 64 RBI between AA Erie and AAA
Toledo. Todd, 23, is ranked as the Reds’ no. 2 prospect in the farm system and led AA Southern League with 56 extra base hits
cranking 40 doubles and 14 home runs while hitting at a .290 clip — all before
his promotion just 2 days ago and being placed at second base (after beginning
his pro career at shortstop, then third base, followed by left field where he
has been playing all season).
“Us as brothers all being able to play a high level of baseball is good
family fun competition, but it has also helped us get to this stage,” Jeff
said.
The two are just a phone call away from the majors and may soon get their
chance once rosters expand to 40 on September 1.
Jason Knapp, Anthony Gose
Tonight I interviewed Cleveland Indians’ pitching prospect, Jason Knapp, and Lakewood BlueClaws’
outfield prospect, Anthony Gose.
Knapp, a 2008 second round pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, was traded
right before the deadline to the Indians along with three other Phillie
prospects — Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco and Lou Marson. The 6-foot-5, 235
pounder throws fire — mid 90s and touches 97. Baseball America ranked him as
having the best fastball in the South Atlantic League.
Knapp began the season with the Lakewood BlueClaws, Low Class A affiliate of
the Phillies, and made his second return to First Energy Park tonight. He
pitched last night against Delmarva recording four solid frames – one hit, one
run and three strikeouts — so he won’t get the chance to pitch against his
former team. Coincidently, he tied a Lakewood club record with 14 K’s against
his current team earlier this season.
In his first full season of professional baseball, the New Jersey (Annandale)
native is 2-7 with a 3.98 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 95 innings pitched combined
between Lakewood and Lake County. He was out for 3 1/2 weeks with shoulder
tendinitis, but is now back doing his thing and will most likely not pitch
above five innings in any of his next couple of starts (9.2 IP in 3 GS since
returning) and then head to Instructional League.
Knapp is a cool dude and about one thing – baseball. He eats, drinks, breathes,
lives (anything you can think of) baseball. I think he has a bright future and
can do big things at the major league level one day. He is only 18-years-old so
he has a ton of time to develope. He was the centerpiece of the trade for Cliff
Lee and will prove to be a good investment for the Indians.
And for you Cleveland fans, here’s a bit of what he had to say about being an
Indian.
“It’s an honor to be included in a trade for a guy like
that (Cliff Lee). Whatever team I am
with, in this case Cleveland, I’ll just adapt to whatever it is they preach
then move forward trying to get better. From what I hear, the Indians have a
great organization, the staff is good, and facilities are all good so it’s been
good.“
Check out my article on his return to Lakewood
The other interivew was with Anthony Gose. Gose is a talented guy with a bright
future. He was recently named the Most Exciting Player in the South Atlantic
League, along with Best Defensive Outfielder, Best/Fastest Baserunner.
Gose has 66 stolen bases already this year — leads minor leagues — and has
only, well only, been caught 17 times. He grew up watching Kenny Lofton and has always loved Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder
and speedster, Juan Pierre, so it
seems he is following their footsteps. He has 26 doubles, 9 triples and 2 home
runs.
Gose has struggled as of late going 16-for-86 in the past weeks dropping his
batting average to .266. This is the 19-year-old’s first full season. He says
his body feels great so it’s not fatigue; it is just the common slump players
go through during their careers.
The lefty passed up on a scholarship to the University of Arizona to play in
the Phillies organization and has made the most of it so far. What I found
interesting is that this guy was also a pitcher and hit 97mph at times, but due
to shoulder problems and his interest in being a position player rather than
pitcher, he and the Phillies chose to make him an everyday outfielder.
Three weeks ago, Darryl Strawberry,
appeared at Lakewood for an autograph signing to help promote his foundation
for Autism, http://www.darrylstrawberry.com/ds/, and Gose had the chance to
meet Straw. The both are Los Angeles natives so it was cool for Gose to shake
hands with him he said.
Before signing off, I’d like to mention Phillies pitching coordinator, Gormon Heimueller, who I bumped into
tonight. Gormon pitched in the majors for a brief time and has done a great job
with the Phillies organization throughout the years raising big leaguers like Cole Hamels and Ryan Madson. He’s been in baseball for a while and knows what he’s
doing for sure.
Let It Begin
Hey, how’s it going? My name is Matthew Stucko. I am going to be a senior at Quinnipiac University this year and majoring in broadcast journalism. I have contributed to several baseball publications like MLB.com, Baseball America, Scout.com and others. I am twenty-one years old and have been reporting on baseball’s top prospects for the past five years. Some players in the bigs I interviewed before they got to the show are Ryan Braun, Cole Hamels, Matt Garza, Chris Volstad and others.
For all those reading this, and future entries, thank you for checkin’ it out and reading what I have to say. I hope to give a good insight to the players who will be at the big league level some day and opinions on topics all around the baseball world.
Feel free to leave any comments and send anything my way.
Best,
Matthew Stucko
mlblogsmatthewstucko
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