IL notes: Frazier no longer dwelling on trade

While some Yankees fans may get caught up in the comparisons, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre outfielder Clint Frazier does not scan Indians box scores to see how Andrew Miller is doing.
"I haven't thought about how Andrew Miller has pitched this year," Frazier said. "I'm sure he's handling business like he always has, and I'm focused on doing the same. I'm sure he's not worried about me, and I'm not worried about him."

That was not the case last season, when Frazier and Miller were central characters in a trade that will affect both franchises now and in the future. Frazier, the Yankees' second-ranked prospect, was one of four players Cleveland traded to get Miller from New York.
And Frazier admitted he did not handle the trade well.
"I was struggling -- performance-wise -- before the trade, so getting traded was difficult because the Yankees didn't have someone who had seen me for a long time and who I could lean on to help me work my way out of it," the Georgia native said. "And I put pressure to meet the expectations [Miller] hung on my head.
"For a 21-year-old, I didn't handle those things for the best, performance-wise. But you go through those things for a reason."
Frazier batted .228 with three homers and seven RBIs in 25 games after joining the RailRiders last August, but Al Pedrique -- his manager each of the past two seasons -- has noticed a difference this year.
"He has shown a lot of improvement from last year," Pedrique said of MLB.com's No. 18 overall prospect. "You could tell he was trying to do too much, to show the organization he was 'The Guy.' He's got a lot of talent. I see a kid who defensively is getting a lot better with his jumps and his routes. Offensively, I see a different kid with more confidence: His plate discipline is better and so is his pitch selection."
In his first 56 games this season, Frazier batted .263 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs -- including a two-homer performance on Friday. He leads the IL with 18 doubles and ranks third with 29 extra-base hits, numbers that have helped the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder post a .507 slugging percentage.
"My batting average isn't sitting where I want it to be, but I've had a lot of hard-hit outs," Frazier said. "I'm putting together good at-bats, stringing together productive at-bats and I'm pretty satisfied right now."
But best of all, the 22-year-old is becoming more comfortable with the trade and with Triple-A baseball as he continues to work for a promotion to New York.
"For the most part this year, I wanted to just settle in and get acclimated with my teammates," he said. "I just wanted to be ready to play a full season for the Yankees for the first time. It has helped coming into this season to know who my teammates were going to be and what the season would be like, to find a place I can call home."

In brief

Sad to see May end: Louisville OF Jesse Winker batted .268 in April before getting rolling offensively in May. In 28 contests that month, he hit .360 with a pair of homers and 18 RBIs while scoring 16 runs. The Reds' No. 2 prospectleads the league with a .313 batting average and has 33 RBIs and 24 runs scored. He's struck out 28 times in 198 at-bats and if fifth in the IL with one strikeout every 8.25 plate appearances.
Hildenberger stays hot: RHP Trevor Hildenberger has played a key role in the Rochester bullpen, going 2-1 with three saves and a 1.96 ERA in 17 appearances. The 26-year-old right-hander is riding a streak of six consecutive scoreless outings and has struck out 27 while walking seven over 23 innings. IL opponents are batting .202 against him.
May day: White Sox prospect Jacob May joined Charlotte on May 4 and immediately started raking, collecting at least one hit in each of his first 12 games with the Knights. He batted .294 with three homers and eight RBIs last month but is hitting .238 without a homer in June. For the season, the 25-year-old outfielder is hitting .278 with three homers and nine RBIs.
He said it: "[Bowling] is just something I enjoy and it's good to get away from baseball sometimes and do something else competitive. Especially when you're there with your older brother, who's probably better than you, but you still want to beat him. It's nice to do something away from baseball. It's you and your brother, and whoever wins is going to have bragging rights for rest of the week." --Buffalo 2B Jason Leblebijian to the Buffalo News. Leblebijian, who's thrown a 267 on the lanes, also has put together strong offensive numbers with the Bisons: he ranks second in the IL with a .313 average and fourth with a .523 slugging percentage.