Clint Frazier puts on show in place of Aaron Judge as Yankees top Braves

Twenty-seven picks after the Indians took Clint Frazier in the draft seven years ago, the Yankees selected Aaron Judge. Ever since, the outfielders’ careers have traveled very different paths. Judge evolved into one of the most dynamic players in baseball, and after joining the Yankees from the Indians four years ago, Frazier made more headlines for drawing attention to himself in various ways than he did for his play on the field.

Then there was Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, where Judge did not post due to lower-body tightness. That left right field open in Aaron Boone’s lineup and he went with the right-handed-hitting Frazier over lefty-swinging Mike Tauchman against Braves right-hander Huascar Ynoa. It was one of Boone’s better moves, as Frazier, in his first game of the season, turned into a mini Judge and led the Yankees (12-6) to a 6-3 victory.

Frazier went 3-for-4 with a homer in the second, a single in the third and a double in the fifth. Promoted from the alternate site on Tuesday to take Giancarlo Stanton’s roster spot, Frazier had to wait a day to deliver the type of performance that will get him what he craves: chances to show the Yankees that despite a crowded outfield of very good players, he can help. Tonight was Frazier’s first real game of 2020.

It has been a lot of sim games. It felt good to get instant results. It is not going to be that easy every time Frazier steps to the plate. It felt good. Frazier is just thrilled he got to play tonight.

Before the Yankees’ second straight win that kept them 1½ games ahead of the Rays in the AL East, Boone believed Frazier could be an impact player in the big leagues.

For at least one night, the impact was Judge-like. Entering the 2013 draft, Frazier, a high schooler from Georgia, was the darling of the Showcase Circuit. Judge was a hulking college slugger in California. Frazier went fifth to the Indians; the Yankees took Judge with the 32nd pick. For one evening, the big league roles were reversed. That is just a great night.

You throw three out there, single, double homer, that is a pretty good return. Boone is not surprised. Frazier has been in a great place now for really all this year, in the spring and summer camp, and the work he was doing down there. Excited to see Frazier come up and have an impact. DJ LeMahieu had a big impact, too, going 4-for-5 and raising his AL-leading batting average to .431.

The Braves took the early lead, thanks to Johan Camargo’s two-run homer off Masahiro Tanaka in the second. The ice-cold Gary Sanchez and Frazier hit back-to-back homers that tied the score 2-2 in the bottom of the inning. Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres drove in a run each in the fourth, as did LeMahieu and Luke Voit in the fifth. Asked to protect a four-run lead in the ninth, Jonathan Holder surrendered a double to Dansby Swanson and an RBI single to Travis d’Arnaud and raised the anxiety level in the Yankees’ dugout.

Boone turned to Zack Britton, who walked Freddie Freeman before recording the final two outs for his seventh save in as many chances.

So after losing five of seven games last week to the Phillies and Rays, the Yankees take a two-game winning streak into Thursday’s day off, which will be followed by a four-game series against the putrid Red Sox at the Stadium.

Boone did not know if Judge would return on Friday, but went to sleep with proof that his assessment that Frazier can be an impact player in the big leagues was accurate for one night.