Jake Fraley

Jake Fraley
Fraley with the Louisville Bats in 2022
Cincinnati Reds – No. 27
Outfielder
Born: (1995-05-25) May 25, 1995 (age 29)
Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
August 21, 2019, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.249
Home runs41
Runs batted in156
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Jake Arnold Fraley (born May 25, 1995) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Seattle Mariners.

Amateur career

Fraley attended Caravel Academy in Bear, Delaware,[1] where he played for their baseball team. He batted .536 as a junior and .492 as a senior, and in his senior year was named to Louisville Slugger's All-American first team and the All-State first team.[2]

Fraley enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU) to play college baseball for the LSU Tigers. He batted .372 as a freshman in 2014, and was named a Freshman All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.[3] He played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League after his freshman and sophomore years.[4][5][6][7]

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Fraley with the 77th overall selection of the 2016 MLB draft.[8] He spent the 2016 season with the Hudson Valley Renegades where he batted .238 with one home run, 18 RBIs and 33 stolen bases in 55 games. In 2017, he played for the Charlotte Stone Crabs, posting a .170 batting average with one home run and 12 RBIs in only 26 games due to injury, and in 2018, he returned to the Stone Crabs, batting .347/.415/.547 with four home runs, 41 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases in 66 games.[9]

In that off-season, Fraley played in the 2017–18 Australian Baseball League season for the Perth Heat batting .361/.449/.680 in 40 games, setting the runs (50) and stolen base (39) records.[10]

Seattle Mariners

On November 8, 2018, Fraley was traded to the Seattle Mariners along with Mallex Smith for Mike Zunino, Guillermo Heredia, and Michael Plassmeyer.[11] He began the 2019 season with the Arkansas Travelers of the Double-A Texas League.[12] The Mariners promoted Fraley to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League on June 20.[13]

On August 20, 2019, the Mariners selected Fraley's contract and promoted him to the major leagues.[14] He made his major league debut on August 21 versus the Tampa Bay Rays.[15] He batted .150 in 12 games.[16] For the abbreviated 2020 season, Fraley appeared in seven games with the Mariners, getting four hits in 23 at-bats.[17]

On June 6, 2021, Fraley hit his first career home run, a three-run shot off Griffin Canning of the Los Angeles Angels.[18] In a June 9 matchup against the Detroit Tigers, Fraley made a leaping catch to rob rookie Isaac Paredes of a walk-off home run, instead sending the game to extras when a quick relay to first base allowed for an inning-ending double play. He notched a go-ahead single in the 11th inning to carry his team to a 9–6 victory.[19] Fraley finished the 2021 season batting .210 with 9 home runs, 36 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 78 games.

Cincinnati Reds

On March 14, 2022, the Mariners traded Fraley, Justin Dunn, Brandon Williamson, and a player to be named later (Connor Phillips) to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker.[20][21]

On May 1, Fraley was placed on the injured list with right knee inflammation, and was shifted to the 60-day IL on June 13.[22] He was activated on July 29.[23]

Personal life

Fraley was born in Frederick, Maryland on May 25, 1995. He is a Christian.[24] He has an older sister, Lauren, and two younger brothers, Andrew, and Brandon and two younger sisters, Hallie and Megan Myers. His younger brother, Brandon, is also a baseball player who attended Caravel Academy.[25] Fraley married Angelica Caceres on October 21, 2016, in Miami, Florida. They have two children.[citation needed] According to an Ancestry.com test, he is a descendant of Vikings and Anglo-Saxons people, which was a major reason as to why the Reds adopted a dugout celebration for the 2023 season involving a Viking outfit, also involving bullpen pitcher Luis Cessa telling him late in the 2022 season that he "looked like a Viking with the big beard and long blonde hair.".[26][27]

References

  1. ^ "Caravel grad Jake Fraley key to LSU's World Series run". The News Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  2. ^ "Caravel grad Jake Fraley finding place at LSU". The News Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "Jared Poche', Jake Fraley Named Freshmen All-Americans By NCBWA - SportsNOLA". SportsNOLA. June 9, 2014. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  4. ^ "#22 Jake Fraley". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "#45 Jake Fraley". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  6. ^ "Younger players following example of Tigers outfielder Jake Fraley". The Advocate. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  7. ^ "A year later, LSU's Jake Fraley doesn't have to worry about wrestling with confidence". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Tampa Bay Rays select LSU's Jake Fraley". Shreveporttimes.com. June 10, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  9. ^ "Jake Fraley Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  10. ^ 2017 Australian Baseball League Batting Leaders Baseball Reference
  11. ^ Johns, Greg (November 8, 2018). "Mariners complete Zunino-Mallex deal". MLB.com. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  12. ^ "Travelers prevail in opener". Arkansasonline.com. April 5, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  13. ^ "Mariners promote outfield prospect Jake Fraley to Class AAA Tacoma". The Seattle Times. June 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  14. ^ MarinersPR (August 20, 2019). "Mariners Select Outfielder Jake Fraley from Tacoma". marinersblog.mlblogs.com. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  15. ^ Dawn Klemish (August 21, 2019). "Fraley makes MLB debut for Mariners in CF". MLB.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  16. ^ "Jake Fraley College, Amateur & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  17. ^ "Mariners outfielder Jake Fraley isn't letting an eye-opening and frustrating 2020 season define him".
  18. ^ "Fraley's eye-opening 1st HR lifts Mariners". MLB.com. June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  19. ^ "Jake Fraley saves the Mariners, and then delivers a win against Tigers". Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  20. ^ "Mariners Acquire INF Eugenio Suárez & OF Jesse Winker from Cincinnati". March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  21. ^ "Mariners Send Minor League RHP Connor Phillips To Cincinnati as PTBNL in Suárez-Winker Trade". March 29, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  22. ^ "Reds' Jake Fraley: Lands on injured list". cbssports.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  23. ^ "Reds activate Ross Detwiler, Jake Fraley from the injured list". redlegnation.com. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  24. ^ "LSU's Jake Fraley relies on an ironclad faith to keep him grounded on the diamond". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  25. ^ "Caravel's Brandon Fraley is the Athlete of the Week". USA Today. April 27, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  26. ^ "Norseman Fraley has Reds turning into Vikings". MLB.com. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  27. ^ "Reds home run celebration, explained: Why Cincinnati players wear Viking apparel after homers". www.sportingnews.com. April 11, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.