Reds’ Frazier emerging at the plate

“You want to be ready,” Frazier said. “(His teammates) see me up there, saying, ‘Let’s go.’ Patting my glove. It gets them going. I just think you need to do that. That’s baseball. It’s your job. You want to be ready. If you’re five minutes early, you’re late. You’ve got to have that mentality. I think we need that a little more.”

Frazier has extra reason to want to take the field as soon as possible these days. Almost a quarter of the way into the season, he might be the Reds’ offensive MVP.

Frazier has raised his average from .210 on April 19 to .265. He took a career-long 12-game hitting streak into the second game of the series against the Padres on Wednesday. He has hit safely in 17 of the last 19 games, slugging three home runs in that span and driving in 13 runs.

“It’s nice having comfort,” Frazier said. “It’s nice to know the pressure’s on the pitcher. You’re not worried about a thing. You have hitting coaches and players who have your back and understand your swing. With the situation we’ve got here with the new staff, they’ve been very helpful with me.

“We work on a lot of things. We watch film and understand if I slow everything down and be the hitter I am, trust my hands, I know I’ve got the power. I know I can hit the ball out of any park. Not to be cocky, but you’ve got to be that way.”

Frazier credited hitting coach Don Long and assistant hitting coach Lee Tinsley for helping him make adjustments. He’s also taking more pitches than ever. He averaged 3.82 pitches per plate appearance last season and is averaging 3.94 this season.

Even his dad has noticed that.

“You look so comfortable up there,” Charlie Frazier told Todd, who grew up in New Jersey. “I’ve never seen you take so many pitches. I’m kind of getting frustrated. You’re taking these pitches down the plate.”

“Dad, it’s not the pitch I’m looking for,” Todd told him. Telling that story, Frazier said, “These New Jersey people, they get a little hasty sometimes. They understand now I’m working on something, and it feels really good up there.”