Todd Frazier, Edwin Jackson Headline USA Baseball Team Roster for 2021 Tokyo Olympics
July 2, 2021
USA Baseball announced its roster for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Friday, and it features several notable former Major League players.
Among the biggest names on the team are third baseman Todd Frazier and pitchers Edwin Jackson, Scott Kazmir and David Robertson:
USA Baseball @USABaseballThe team that will bring home Olympic gold <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForGlory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForGlory</a>🇺🇸 <br><br>See you in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a>: <a href="https://t.co/L9ApiIgXxK">https://t.co/L9ApiIgXxK</a> <a href="https://t.co/51LEnyte85">pic.twitter.com/51LEnyte85</a>
Team USA qualified for the Olympics last month with a 4-2 victory over Venezuela, giving the United States a perfect 4-0 record in the Americas Qualifier.
Team USA is made up primarily of veteran free agents and minor league players. Frazier was part of the former group before he signed with the Sussex County Miners of the Frontier League last month.
The 35-year-old Frazier spent 11 seasons as an MLB player from 2011-21 with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 1,244 regular-season games, the two-time All-Star hit .241 with 218 home runs and 640 RBI. His best season came in 2016 with the White Sox when he set career highs with 40 home runs and 98 RBI.
Frazier did appear in 13 games for the Pirates earlier this season, hitting just .086 with four RBI.
The 37-year-old Jackson is a free agent who is best known for a nomadic MLB career that saw him play for a record 14 different teams from 2003-19.
Jackson appeared in 412 games and made 318 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays.
He went 107-133 with a 4.78 ERA, earning an All-Star nod with the Tigers in 2009, throwing a no-hitter for the Diamondbacks in 2010 and winning a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011.
The 37-year-old Kazmir is a minor leaguer in the San Francisco Giants organization after playing for seven different teams in 13 Major League seasons.
Kazmir was named an All-Star twice with the Rays and once with the A's in 2014. He also pitched for the Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland, the Houston Astros, Dodgers and Giants.
The lefty is 108-97 with a 4.02 ERA in his career, and he appeared in three games for the Giants earlier this season after having not pitched in the majors since 2016.
Robertson, 36, is perhaps the top candidate to serve as Team USA's closer after an excellent MLB career as a reliever.
Now a free agent, Robertson spent 12 seasons in the MLB with the Yankees, White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies from 2008-19.
Robertson was an All-Star with the Yankees in 20011 when he posted a 1.08 ERA as a setup man, and he totaled 110 saves over a three-season span from 2014-16 with the Yanks and White Sox.
He also led the Yankees to a World Series title in 2009 and finished an impressive 11th in the American League Cy Young voting that year.
Overall, Robertson is 53-33 with a 2.90 ERA and 137 saves as an MLB player.
Other notable players on the Team USA roster include former Yankees first baseman and outfielder Tyler Austin, former Blue Jays outfielder-turned-pitcher Anthony Gose and 22-year-old Rays pitching prospect Shane Baz, who boasts a 2.12 ERA and has struck out 69 batters in 46.2 innings over 10 minor-league starts this season.
Team USA is managed by Mike Scioscia, who managed the Angels from 2000-18, going 1,650-1,428 and winning the World Series in 2002.
This year marks the return of baseball to the Olympic program after it wasn't included in 2012 or 2016. At the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, Team USA beat Japan to win bronze in the competition.
Baseball has been contested at the Olympics five times, and while the United States has the second-most medals overall with three, its only gold medal was won in 2000.
Team USA's first game of the Tokyo Olympics will be played on July 30 against Israel.