The Orioles entered last offseason as a team loaded with young talent, with many outsiders penciling them in as one of the winter’s biggest potential spenders. Baltimore, though, largely bet on its homegrown prospects.
The Orioles limited themselves to mid-level signings, including bringing free-agent infielder Adam Frazier aboard on a one-year deal. The veteran helped steer the O’s toward a 100-win season and playoff berth, regularly contributing during a season defined by a jovial clubhouse.
He earned his stripes in a mid-September fight for AL East dominance. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth to the rival Tampa Bay Rays, Frazier stepped in the box with two outs and drove in Jorge Mateo on a double to tie the game, one of the timeliest hits of the season. Baltimore eventually prevailed in extras, clinching its first postseason spot since 2016.
“It’s up there, for sure,” Frazier said on Glenn Clark Radio Dec. 4 when asked where the hit ranks in his career. “Tough pitcher like [Pete] Fairbanks, I got behind early and it was, ‘All right, get something in play, I’m not ending this game,’ and then you have Mateo at first base, couldn’t be any faster. It was pretty special, no doubt. I know it was a huge moment for our club. … Anybody could come through at any moment to win a game for us. That happened to be my moment, I guess. That was a lot of fun.”
Frazier once again entered free agency following the end of the season, and re-signing with the Orioles is far from a guarantee. The soon-to-be 32-year-old slapped 99 hits and drove in 60 runs in 141 games. He will remember potentially his lone season as an Oriole as one that delivered thrills from start to finish.
“I think the word ‘joy’ describes it pretty well,” Frazier said. “Being a part of Gunnar [Henderson] and Adley [Rutschman] and all those young guys that can really play baseball, trying to help them grow up, the young pitchers really taking a step forward throughout the year. Those guys were the reason we were 30 games past whatever our expected win total was. It was a lot of fun.”
“We came up a little short of what we thought we could do, which was a tough, tough pill to swallow at the end,” the infielder added, “but it was a lot of joy, a lot of fun taking the field every day with those guys.”
Frazier came to Baltimore as an experienced hitter who had recently played in big games, most notably the prior season’s playoffs when he surfaced as one of Seattle’s best postseason bats in the Mariners’ long-awaited return to the playoffs.
One of Frazier’s best qualities throughout his career has been his bat-to-ball skills. He only hit .240 for the Orioles, not quite what it was two years ago when he averaged .305 as an All-Star. His steadiness in the box and at second base fit with his consistency as a teammate, though, and the accomplished veteran proved a key figure in the Orioles’ enviable clubhouse dynamics.
“As time went on, we became brothers, became a really tight-knit group,” he said. “It’s the dinners off the field, the breakfast in the morning with a group of guys. You keep your mind fresh when you’re not thinking about baseball all the time off the field.”
Frazier saw action in two of Baltimore’s postseason games against the eventual champion Texas Rangers, failing to record a hit in the sweep. The Orioles found themselves suffering from their own success toward the end of the season, when they faced a logjam in the infield with a glut of up-and-coming prospects.
Frazier was sure to compliment fellow middle infielders Jordan Westburg and Henderson for their ascents. The veteran isn’t sure if this is the end of the road for him in Baltimore, but he’s keeping the door open for a return. Fans will be sure to remember his winning plays, especially that ninth-inning double to ward off the Rays, as well as his paying his respects to Brooks Robinson after his passing at the club’s public memorial.
For now, he awaits the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes to unfold just like everyone else, and he’ll take the offseason as it comes.
“We have had a few chats,” Frazier said, referring to his camp and the Orioles. “I think it would be in a different role if I do end up back with some of the young guys coming up that can really play baseball. Never say never, and we’ll see what ends up happening in the next few weeks.”
For more from Frazier, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox