New York Islanders: Josh Ho-Sang vs Clint Frazier Comparison

New York Islanders forward, Josh Ho-Sang has drawn a ton of comparisons on Twitter to Clint Frazier recently. How accurate of a comparison is that?

Over the past few years, the most polarizing figure for the New York Islanders has been Josh Ho-Sang. By now, we all know the story. From running the steps at the Coliseum to his burst onto the scene in the 2016-2017 season and all the bumps in the road in between.

At this point, fans either love him or hate him and he’s even drawn a comparison recently to a Yankees prospect, Clint Frazier.

Normally, I hate comparing players who play different sports but this situation that has been talked about a ton on social media recently is a very interesting one. Both JHS and Clint Frazier are very similar.

Age

They are essentially the same age. Ho-Sang is 23 years old and will turn 24 next January. Clint is 24 years old right now and will turn 25 in September. Both Ho-Sang and Frazier at one point were both highly touted prospects but now due to their age aren’t on the prospect radar for either of their teams. They’re kind of in no man’s land

Both Good Offensively

Frazier and Ho-Sang have both flashed strong offensive talent. Ho-Sang last year had 31 points in 50 games with the Sound Tigers and had impressive WOWY numbers in the NHL in his limited sample size.

He’s flashed top-six potential in the NHL when given the opportunity and it’s all because of his dynamic skating and playmaking abilities.

As for Frazier, this year in 50 games in the MLB he’s slashing .283/.330/.513 with 11 HR and 34 RBI with an .843 OPS. That’s a pace of 33 HR and 104 RBI over a full 162 game season.

Over the course of his career, Frazier’s 162 game average is .262/.314/.474 with 23 HR and 79 RBI. That’s pretty solid offensive numbers for Clint.

Both Are Bad Defenders

Just two years ago, the Islanders defensive issues were placed solely on the shoulders of Josh Ho-Sang. While he wasn’t great defensively the Isles problems didn’t go away after he was shipped to Bridgeport.

JHS also is turnover prone and known to get lazy in the defensive zone at times despite a little improvement in the Barry Trotz system last year.

Frazier might be the worst defensive player I’ve ever seen. This year he has a -6 DRS (defensive runs saved). This also happened in the same inning in one game:

Both Haven’t Gotten A Full Chance At The Pro Level

For Frazier and Ho-Sang, despite flashes in the NHL and MLB, they haven’t gotten a full shot at their respective pro levels. Ho-Sang has played 21, 22, and 10 games in a three-year span while Frazier has 39, 15, and 53 games over a three-year span.

They’ve both been called up and sent down and then passed over a bunch over the last three years.

Attitude Issues

We know the story with Ho-Sang by now. He was late to training camp, complained about ice time in the AHL, and has just a negative rhetoric against him when it comes to his attitude, dating back to his draft days in 2014.

Frazier is very similar when it comes to the immature claims. There was a rumor (debunked) that he asked for Mickey Mantle’s number, he didn’t want to cut his hair, he wasn’t great with the media after bad performances and so much more.

You Either Love Em or Hate Em

If you’re on Isles Twitter or Yankee Twitter fans either love them some Ho-Sang or Frazier or hate Ho-Sang or Frazier. There’s very few who land in the middle of either of those spectrums.

One thing is for certain, both guys deserve a legit shot at the MLB and NHL. If they get it in New York with the Islanders or the Yankees is yet to be seen, but the Ho-Sang and Frazier comparison is actually spot on.