Dusty on Todd Frazier

[OnBaseMachine]

SPEAKING OF TODD FRAZIER, one of the team’s highest prospects, Baker was asked if he had talked much to him yet this spring.

“Just a little bit,” said Baker. “I see him, but I hear him mostly. I hear his bat. He has a different sound in his bat. He has a different swing, but it is very effective.”

Frazier is one of the many shortstop prospects in camp - Paul Janish, Frazier, Chris Valaika.

“We have decisions to make at the minor league level when you have guys like (first baseman) Yonder Alonzo, (third baseman Juan Francisco), Frazier and others,” said Baker. Because the club is rich in shortstop and third base prospects, some switching may be done.

“Francisco may play third and/or outfield and Frazier may play short, third or outfielder,” said Baker. “And with Valaika at short, you know, where are you going to put all these guys if they play on the same team? They all need at-bats, but they need to be in positions where they might play in the big leagues.”

There is some talk that Frazier might be too big for a shortstop (6-3, 220), but in this day and age, how big is too big?

Baker doesn’t subscribe.

“Every time I looke at him I think of Cal Ripken Jr.s body type,” he said. “He supposedly didn’t have the body type for a shortstop. If he walked into this room and you didn’t know he was a shortstop, there was no way you’d think he was a shortstop.”

And how did that work out?

http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/con...incinnatireds/

[OnBaseMachine]

Frazier drawing attention at Reds camp
Talented prospect likely to start season at Double-A

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com

SARASOTA, Fla. -- His large 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame doesn't scream "prototypical shortstop" dimensions, but prospect Todd Frazier could be another in the contemporary era of big-sized, big-hitting shortstops.

That's if he ends up playing there. Frazier was a shortstop when he was taken out of Rutgers University in the 2007 Draft's supplemental first round. But he has since played extensively at third base, first base, left field -- and shortstop. He's shown the arm strength and good athletic ability to move around. Most of all, he hits well anywhere he goes.

"Every time I look at him, Cal Ripken's body type wasn't a shortstop either," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "If Cal Ripken Jr. walked in this room, there's no way you'd know he was a shortstop."

That's where the Ripken comparison starts and ends at this point. Baker hasn't even seen Frazier play shortstop yet but his name has come up. A few times a week during Spring Training, the manager and his coaches will go out to dinner and talk about camp. At the most recent dinner on Friday, Frazier's name came up.

"I see him. I hear him mostly. I hear his bat," Baker said on Saturday morning. "He has a different sound to his bat. We were talking about Frazier. He has a different swing but it's very effective."

The 23-year-old Frazier played 100 games in high Class A with Sarasota after starting the year in Class A Dayton. At both stops, he hit well with some power while batting .291 with 19 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .368 on-base percentage. That was after hitting .318 during his first pro season in 2007 with rookie level Billings and Dayton.

It's a good bet that Frazier will begin 2009 in Double-A, where he has already faced that competition level of pitching in the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League. In 27 games for Waikiki, he batted .295 with three homers and 22 RBIs. He also missed 11 games after suffering a concussion in a collision.

"Hawaii was unbelievable," Frazier said. "I met a lot of great people that worked there, the players and coaches. I worked on a lot of little things to hone my skills a bit. The pitching was great -- you've got guys hitting their spots a bit more and carving you up a little bit. You just have to make little adjustments, see the ball and track it a little more."

Rated by Baseball America as the organization's No. 2 prospect entering the year behind Yonder Alonso, Frazier smartly doesn't complain about being nomadic in the field defensively.

Just put his name in the lineup and turn him loose. While he still loves shortstop, he's gotten comfortable at third base.

"It doesn't really matter where they put me," Frazier said. "I just want to play and hit, to be honest. I think they can find a spot for me if I keep hitting."

It will be a nice organizational issue for the Reds to have. Besides Frazier, Double-A Carolina could have Alonso at first base, Reds Minor League Player of the Year Chris Valaika at shortstop and big slugger Juan Francisco at third base or left field.

"They could be on the same team," Baker said. "Where will you put them with Valaika, where they can all get at-bats And put them in the positions they might play in the big leagues."

Frazier first entered people's baseball consciousness in the 1998 Little League World Series, where his Toms River, N.J. team won the championship. In the final game vs. Japan, he went 4-for-4 with a home run.

The experience exposed Frazier to playing in front of large crowds with high expectations.

"We had I think 44,000 people at the game, which was unbelievable," Frazier said. "When you're at that stadium, it was like an arena or Bon Jovi concert or something. We had a lot of fun. We weren't nervous. It was a plus for me seeing and playing in front of a big crowd."

As for playing in front of big crowds at Major League stadiums, something not out of the question in 2010, Frazier isn't going there yet. As he wears the No. 84 that befits his not-ready-for-primetime status, he's just trying to make the most of the experience of his first big league camp.

"It's unbelievable meeting all new guys, just hitting and playing with the guys is great. I'm taking it all in right now," Frazier said. "I just take it a day at a time to be honest. You dream about it and think about it a lot. But you have to be composed and know what you're doing builds you up to be the athlete that you are while taking it day by day and having fun mostly. My Dad and coaches always preached that to me -- just have fun, first and foremost."

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=cin

[Screwball]

SPEAKING OF TODD FRAZIER, one of the team’s highest prospects, Baker was asked if he had talked much to him yet this spring.

“Just a little bit,” said Baker. “I see him, but I hear him mostly. I hear his bat. He has a different sound in his bat. He has a different swing, but it is very effective.”

I can't help but think of what Baker said during last year's ST:

“”Boy, [Norris Hopper] can hit that ball hard. He’s a strong little dude,” Baker said. “The ball made a loud sound. I use my ears a lot. I can tell what kind of bat speed [he] has by that sound.”

Hopefully Frazier's bat sound translates to more than 1 HR every 1,000 ABs.

[redsfandan]

Because the club is rich in shortstop and third base prospects, some switching may be done.

That's kinda overstating things isn't it?

"It doesn't really matter where they put me," Frazier said. "I just want to play and hit, to be honest. I think they can find a spot for me if I keep hitting."

Hopefully he won't forget that defense counts too.

[princeton]

I can't help but think of what Baker said during last year's ST:



Hopefully Frazier's bat sound translates to more than 1 HR every 1,000 ABs.