Clint Frazier doing whatever is needed to address his defensive woes in outfield

Clint Frazier has offset some sturdy power production with more than a handful of adventurous moments in the outfield this season.

It still was surprising to see him omitted from the Yankees’ lineup on Thursday before the opener of their four-game series against Boston was postponed because of rain.

With lefty ace Chris Sale slated to pitch for Boston, Cameron Maybin was listed as the starting rightfielder and Kendrys Morales as the designated hitter, with lefty-swinging Brett Gardner manning leftfield.

“He’s good. It’s just a day [off]. He’s played quite a bit,” Aaron Boone said of Frazier. “He played the doubleheader [Saturday in Kansas City], so he’s on a track of like 10 games in nine days. I’m just trying to keep guys fresh and trying to keep guys in there and looking at matchups moving forward. I just felt today was a good day for that.”

Frazier is rated as the worst defensive outfielder in MLB by Statcast’s Outs Above Average (OAA) metric. It measures catch probability, accounting for the number of plays a fielder makes while factoring in the difficulty of making them.

Frazier and rehabbing All-Star Aaron Judge worked together in rightfield before batting practice Thursday. Frazier said he also sought out front office adviser Carlos Beltran earlier in the week for defensive pointers.

“I talked to Carlos the other day, just to try to get together while he’s here,” Frazier said. “And Aaron, who better to ask about rightfield here than him? It’s just little conversations, trying to help me pick up the little things to look for out there.

“Honestly, I feel like my reads have been good. It’s just trusting the reads and not second-guessing myself. The biggest conversations I’ve had with AJ and with [outfield coach] Reggie Willits is trust the read. When I do that, my speed can play and my athleticism out there can take over. I think it’s going in the right direction. It’s just going to take some time.”

Frazier, who missed nearly all of 2018 with recurring concussion issues and spent nearly two weeks on the injured list this season with an ankle injury, has 10 homers, 28 RBIs and an .839 OPS in 153 plate appearances over 39 games. But with Judge (oblique) and Giancarlo Stanton (biceps, calf) both working their way back from injuries, Frazier hopes he’s produced enough to avoid a return to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“We obviously have some really big pieces of our lineup coming back in the near future, but I think I’ve put myself in a good position for more playing time. I’m not saying full-time playing time, but I think I’m in a good spot,” said Frazier, who homered against Sale on April 16. “I mean, I don’t think Triple-A is really, you know, it’s like my numbers are what they are down there and now they are what they are up here. I think I’m at that point in my career where I’m going to need to be challenged at this level.”

Of course, that opportunity ultimately might come elsewhere. Frazier continues to be mentioned among the Yankees’ potential trade chips ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

“If anything, it just humors me. I think people are just bored,” Frazier said. “They’ve been saying I’m getting traded for three years and I’m still here, so who knows? I want to be here, but I could be traded, I could be sitting in Triple-A or I could be here. There’s multiple scenarios that could happen, but I have no control over that.”