NY Yankees prospect can't remember his cats' names after injury
In the world of sports, concussions are usually associated with the NFL.
But football isn’t the only sport where head trauma leads to frightening results.
New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier, who suffered a concussion when he ran into a wall going back for a fly ball in left field at the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field facility in Tampa on Feb. 24, suffered a “setback” Saturday, the New York Post reported.
Frazier reportedly forgot the names of his two cats — the kind of cognitive breakdown you’d expect from a senile great-grandfather, not a 23-year-old prospect who is otherwise the picture of youth and fitness.
The “setback” occurred as Frazier was taking swings off a batting tee at spring training. Exerting himself only that much was enough to short-circuit his brain’s progress.
Frazier has also stopped driving his car after his self-described “scary moments” behind the wheel.
Concussions are silent but horrible injuries. If a player tears his ACL, there’s a readily observable cause when he falls to the ground while trying to run. If he blows out his rotator cuff, there is no great surprise when he can’t throw a fastball.
But in Frazier’s words about his head injury, “It sucks. This has to be the worst injury I’ve ever had. I didn’t feel right today hitting. I felt foggy, that is the word of the day. I felt splotchy. … There are some positives that have come out of the last few days, but I want all positives.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman blamed the media in part for the trouble, saying that talking to Frazier right after an endurance test taxed his already-fragile rebuilding of his mental circuitry.
Cashman elaborated, “The only thing I would say is maybe it’s best not to be interviewed on a daily basis when he comes out of his endurance stuff. …
“He’s been doing well and everything we’re doing is doctor-required. It’s not the Yankees putting him through these things.”
He also pointed out that other sports, like the NFL and NBA, have as part of their concussion protocols a prohibition on media members probing into a player’s recovery.
Frazier was scheduled to be back out there Sunday swinging the bat again.
Cashman said it “will be a new regimen. Obviously not the same intensity.”
The Yankees have run into this problem before, when Jacoby Ellsbury couldn’t stay healthy after a knock on the head last year. Ellsbury made a spectacular catch, but he ended up doing an extended period of time on the disabled list and out of action.
While Ellsbury is 34 rather than Frazier’s 23, if he’s the template, this could be a scary prognosis for the Yankees’ hopes of getting outfield depth.
Cashman, comparing Frazier with Ellsbury, said, “No one can tell you when those storm clouds will disappear.”
“It’s a frustrating experience, no question about it,” he said. “It’s a journey, unfortunately. Last year, dealing with Ellsbury took a while, but then he came out and was past it. You just can’t tell when.”
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