Five Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects People Have Forgotten About

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Outfielder Matt Fraizer

Matt Fraizer is an interesting prospect. He's a player who brings speed, power, respectable fielding, and some plate discipline. After an outstanding 2021 season, expectations were high for Fraizer heading into 2022. But he came up well short. 

In 480 plate appearances, Fraizer slashed a horrendous .219/.284/.333. Fraizer hit for little power with an isolated slugging percentage of just .114. On top of that, he had a mediocre 7.3% walk rate and 23.8% strikeout. His poor overall numbers resulted in a .278 wOBA and 69 wRC+.

Nevertheless, his numbers in 2021 were beyond incredible. During that season, Fraizer batted .306/.388/.552 with a .402 wOBA and 149 wRC+. Fraizer had a respectable 21.6% strikeout rate, but a healthy 11.2% walk rate. Hitting for power was no issue, as he crushed 23 home runs with a .246 isolated slugging percentage.

Where Fraizer goes from here remains to be seen. You can't help but be intrigued by his outstanding 2021 performance and his power/speed combo. Personally, I don't believe Frazier is as bad of a hitter as we saw this past season. But I also don't believe that he's as good as we saw in 2021. I believe he falls somewhere between the two extremes and could end up being a solid outfielder.