Yankees' Clint Frazier goes on injured list after suffering from vertigo
Yankees' Clint Frazier hits a two-run double during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at Yankee Stadium. Credit: AP/Kathy Willens
Clint Frazier’s ugly 2021 season is getting worse.
The outfielder, who has struggled at the plate pretty much all season, was placed on the injured list Friday afternoon with "vertigo," Aaron Boone said.
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Clint Frazier’s ugly 2021 season is getting worse.
The outfielder, who has struggled at the plate pretty much all season, was placed on the injured list Friday afternoon with "vertigo," Aaron Boone said.
The move came after Frazier, hitting .186 with five homers and a .634 OPS in 66 games, left Wednesday’s game with "complaints of dizziness," Boone said after that night’s 11-8 loss to the Angels.
Outfielder Tim Locastro, a native of Auburn, New York, who grew up a Yankees fan and was acquired Thursday from the Diamondbacks, took Frazier’s spot on the 26-man roster.
Boone said Frazier went through "a battery of tests" Friday in an attempt to lend more clarity to the situation.
"Not a lot of detail right now for you other than a number of tests," Boone said. "Doctors, hospital, things like that, just trying to . . . if we can uncover something or get to the bottom of anything. So it’s a litany of tests that he’s going through."
Boone said no one incident caused the issue for Frazier, who suffered a concussion early in spring training 2018, an injury that lingered all of that season and well into 2019.
"No. It was just the second inning [Wednesday] where he complained of dizziness coming off the field," Boone said before Friday night’s game was postponed. "So we’ve kind of started that battery of tests here these last couple of days."
Boone said he did not have an update on how Frazier progressed after Wednesday — primarily, whether the symptoms had diminished at all.
"I think he’s been OK here these last 24 hours or whatever," Boone said. "I have not spoken to him in the last 24 hours, but part of that is all that he’s been going through with the tests."
As for Locastro, an athletic and speedy 28-year-old who has underwhelmed at the plate but can play all three outfield positions, he smiled throughout his meeting with reporters after taking batting practice.
"I just got the chills when you said that," Locastro said in response to a question about growing up a Yankees fan and putting on the pinstripes for the first time. "I mean, my family’s going to be here, my fiancee is going to be here. I can’t wait for tonight. It’s going to be awesome."
Locastro, who said he woke up Thursday morning at 9:45 to "200 text messages and 20 missed calls" with news of the trade, had no difficulty in recalling the most memorable Yankees game he attended. It was Oct. 10, 2012, Game 3 of the ALDS against the Orioles. Raul Ibanez, pinch hitting for a slumping Alex Rodriguez, hit a tying homer in the ninth and a walk-off homer in the 12th for a 3-2 victory that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
"That was probably the coolest and most memorable moment," Locastro said. "I was sitting down the third-base line going nuts. Me and my buddies, we drove down from college [Ithaca]. It was a great experience."