Adam Frazier has Postseason Breakthrough in a big way

The postseason is a time when players need to step up to help their team win, and Adam Frazier stepped up in a big way in the Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. During the regular season, Adam Frazier was largely a disappointment. He entered game one hitting 8th in the order, but in game two he was moved up to 6th. This was largely due to his career numbers versus Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who he has a career .400 batting average against.

In game one, Frazier only went 1-4 against the Blue Jays. However, game two was where he stepped up big time. He would go 3-5 with two runs scored and one RBI, and they were all huge. The first big moment from Frazier was scoring from first base on shortstop J.P. Crawford’s bloop double to shallow center field that tied the game at 9. I did not think he was going to score on the blooper, but he was running hard all the way with two outs.

Adam Frazier showed he was the exact kind of player the Mariners were hoping for when they acquired him

Having the great comeback from being down 8-1 was incredible, and Frazier scoring the tying run at 9-9 was only the second biggest thing he did in that game. He would come up again in the top of the 9th inning after Cal Raleigh had doubled with two outs. He would have his biggest swing of the year and pull a slider down the right-field line for a one-hopper off the wall. The double would give the Mariners the lead and ultimately would win them the game.

After his lackluster regular season, having a breakout game in a series-winning game was incredible. The playoffs are a great time to have a quick, short-to-the-ball hitter with some speed. Contact hitters are really important in the playoffs because the pitching is better and having someone who can get base hits is really important. Having Frazier step up with Sam Haggerty on the shelf will be really important the rest of the way.

Looking ahead to the Astros series, Adam Frazier is 6-21 with 2 walks against Justin Verlander, so that will be a key matchup to watch in game one. I was pretty high on him when the Mariners acquired him, and even though he was disappointing in the regular season, he can have a big impact on the M’s postseason run.