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Gabe Fraser’s 2-homer day boosts Chatham to 17-2 win over Cotuit
COTUIT, Mass. — During Thursday’s pregame batting practice, Gabe Fraser took a few swings in the turtle, looked at Brett Doe, and knew that something had changed.
“Hey,” he told Chatham’s assistant coach, “I think it clicked for me.”
Based on the results, it seems Fraser’s intuition was correct. Just a few hours after that conversation, the former Florida State third baseman put together the single best offensive performance of Chatham’s young season. The 4-for-5 day speaks for itself, as do the four runs scored, as do the six runs batted in, as do the two home runs — Chatham’s first two longballs of the season, by the way.
Whatever Fraser was doing, it worked. It wasn’t just him, either. The Anglers were firing on all cylinders offensively Thursday, and Fraser was simply the largest benefactor. His two-homer day helped power Chatham (1-4, East) to its first win of the season, a seven-inning 17-2 trouncing of Cotuit (2-2-1, West) at Lowell Park, where the A’s mashed a season-high 15 hits.
“The guys made some good swings,” Cook said. “They were competing at the plate, and had some competitive at-bats.”
And Fraser made some particularly excellent swings. Four Cotuit pitchers appeared in the game, and he had an extra base hit against three of them. He began with a second-inning homer against Tristan Hunter (Kentucky), followed it with another against Josh Halcisak (Mount St. Mary’s), and capped off his day with a double against Eli Buxton (Arizona State).
It was a far cry from the performances he opened the season with. Statistically, he wasn’t having the worst adjustment to the Cape Cod Baseball League, but it wasn’t the best either. He entered Thursday leading the A’s with seven strikeouts, and had just a .517 OPS then.
The numbers paint a completely different picture now. If you go to capecodleague.com, click on the “STATS” tab, and sort the league’s hitters by OPS, a new face sits atop the leaderboard.
This man, owner of a gaudy 1.199 mark, is a Chatham Angler. His name is Gabe Fraser.
“Adjusting mentally when you're trying to work on stuff, but also (being) the player you are at the same time, is pretty difficult,” Fraser said. “There's gonna be little struggles here and there, but it's going to start to produce at some point.”
That production manifested itself Thursday, but it truly began Wednesday. It was supposed to be a scheduled, league-wide off-day. But since Chatham lost 4-1 to Cotuit Tuesday, the A’s were back at Veterans Field, hard at work.
Cook said they got out in the morning, “moved around a little bit,” did some hitting and had a really good practice. He said it felt like the team was loose. It looked like they were having fun.
“After yesterday's practice, I felt good about where we were in our headspace,” Cook said postgame. “Win or lose, I'll tell you the same thing.”
At that practice, Chatham assistant Cole Caruso did some work with Fraser. He helped the third baseman simplify his swing, molding it into one fluid motion.
Chatham third baseman Gabe Fraser rounds the bases after hitting Chatham's first home run of the season. Fraser now leads the CCBL with a 1.199 OPS. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
Caruso wasn’t the only positive influence on Fraser’s game. A’s right fielder Jacob Parker (Mississippi State) has only been in Chatham for three games, but Fraser has already picked up tidbits from the Perfect Game Freshman of the Year. He’s seen how Parker incorporates a toe tap into his swing, loading up before the pitcher releases the ball, and he’s added it into his own.
“He’s super impressive to watch,” Fraser said, referring to Parker. “I've kind of been taking it in, and trying to build some of his game into mine.”
Those adjustments have allowed him to unlock a new level of power. This past spring, Fraser hit just one home run in his 38 games at Florida State. He had just one home run at Arkansas the season before that, too, bringing his career collegiate tally to a whopping two longballs.
On Thursday, it took him just five innings to match that. After his second homer, he hit a bat flip before he embarked on his trot, having singlehandedly launched Chatham into run-rule territory.
“I went out there, did my thing and it worked,” Fraser said postgame.
Simple as that. Jack Ohman (Yale), Chatham’s starter, did his best to steal Fraser’s thunder. In his Cape debut, the righty came out of the gates hot, retiring the first 13 Kettleers he faced.
“I really liked what (Ohman) did,” Cook said. “He attacked the strike zone, he had low pitch count innings. I think he ended up with 57 pitches through five innings, which is really good.”
On any other day, the spotlight might’ve been on the budding star in Chatham’s rotation. But it wasn’t. It was on Fraser, and deservedly so.
“Waiting to interview the big man,” someone chirped as they walked past the A’s dugout, while Fraser packed his equipment into his Florida State backpack postgame.
Their guess was correct. Fraser had an on-camera postgame interview, then another interview after that, and was then approached by an autograph-seeking fan in a Cotuit Kettleers hat as he left the field. He obliged, of course. Fraser wasn’t on the fan’s team, but that didn’t matter.
After that performance, who wouldn’t want his autograph?
“Hey,” he told Chatham’s assistant coach, “I think it clicked for me.”
Based on the results, it seems Fraser’s intuition was correct. Just a few hours after that conversation, the former Florida State third baseman put together the single best offensive performance of Chatham’s young season. The 4-for-5 day speaks for itself, as do the four runs scored, as do the six runs batted in, as do the two home runs — Chatham’s first two longballs of the season, by the way.
Whatever Fraser was doing, it worked. It wasn’t just him, either. The Anglers were firing on all cylinders offensively Thursday, and Fraser was simply the largest benefactor. His two-homer day helped power Chatham (1-4, East) to its first win of the season, a seven-inning 17-2 trouncing of Cotuit (2-2-1, West) at Lowell Park, where the A’s mashed a season-high 15 hits.
“The guys made some good swings,” Cook said. “They were competing at the plate, and had some competitive at-bats.”
And Fraser made some particularly excellent swings. Four Cotuit pitchers appeared in the game, and he had an extra base hit against three of them. He began with a second-inning homer against Tristan Hunter (Kentucky), followed it with another against Josh Halcisak (Mount St. Mary’s), and capped off his day with a double against Eli Buxton (Arizona State).
It was a far cry from the performances he opened the season with. Statistically, he wasn’t having the worst adjustment to the Cape Cod Baseball League, but it wasn’t the best either. He entered Thursday leading the A’s with seven strikeouts, and had just a .517 OPS then.
The numbers paint a completely different picture now. If you go to capecodleague.com, click on the “STATS” tab, and sort the league’s hitters by OPS, a new face sits atop the leaderboard.
This man, owner of a gaudy 1.199 mark, is a Chatham Angler. His name is Gabe Fraser.
“Adjusting mentally when you're trying to work on stuff, but also (being) the player you are at the same time, is pretty difficult,” Fraser said. “There's gonna be little struggles here and there, but it's going to start to produce at some point.”
That production manifested itself Thursday, but it truly began Wednesday. It was supposed to be a scheduled, league-wide off-day. But since Chatham lost 4-1 to Cotuit Tuesday, the A’s were back at Veterans Field, hard at work.
Cook said they got out in the morning, “moved around a little bit,” did some hitting and had a really good practice. He said it felt like the team was loose. It looked like they were having fun.
“After yesterday's practice, I felt good about where we were in our headspace,” Cook said postgame. “Win or lose, I'll tell you the same thing.”
At that practice, Chatham assistant Cole Caruso did some work with Fraser. He helped the third baseman simplify his swing, molding it into one fluid motion.
Chatham third baseman Gabe Fraser rounds the bases after hitting Chatham's first home run of the season. Fraser now leads the CCBL with a 1.199 OPS. Photograph by Alistair Hennessey
Caruso wasn’t the only positive influence on Fraser’s game. A’s right fielder Jacob Parker (Mississippi State) has only been in Chatham for three games, but Fraser has already picked up tidbits from the Perfect Game Freshman of the Year. He’s seen how Parker incorporates a toe tap into his swing, loading up before the pitcher releases the ball, and he’s added it into his own.
“He’s super impressive to watch,” Fraser said, referring to Parker. “I've kind of been taking it in, and trying to build some of his game into mine.”
Those adjustments have allowed him to unlock a new level of power. This past spring, Fraser hit just one home run in his 38 games at Florida State. He had just one home run at Arkansas the season before that, too, bringing his career collegiate tally to a whopping two longballs.
On Thursday, it took him just five innings to match that. After his second homer, he hit a bat flip before he embarked on his trot, having singlehandedly launched Chatham into run-rule territory.
“I went out there, did my thing and it worked,” Fraser said postgame.
Simple as that. Jack Ohman (Yale), Chatham’s starter, did his best to steal Fraser’s thunder. In his Cape debut, the righty came out of the gates hot, retiring the first 13 Kettleers he faced.
“I really liked what (Ohman) did,” Cook said. “He attacked the strike zone, he had low pitch count innings. I think he ended up with 57 pitches through five innings, which is really good.”
On any other day, the spotlight might’ve been on the budding star in Chatham’s rotation. But it wasn’t. It was on Fraser, and deservedly so.
“Waiting to interview the big man,” someone chirped as they walked past the A’s dugout, while Fraser packed his equipment into his Florida State backpack postgame.
Their guess was correct. Fraser had an on-camera postgame interview, then another interview after that, and was then approached by an autograph-seeking fan in a Cotuit Kettleers hat as he left the field. He obliged, of course. Fraser wasn’t on the fan’s team, but that didn’t matter.
After that performance, who wouldn’t want his autograph?
