Whether he’s been in the lineup or not, New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. has found a way to be among the major storylines in both games of the American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox.
And in the opinion of MLB analyst Harold Reynolds, Yankees manager Aaron Boone better make sure that Chisholm is in position to make an impact tonight.
In Game 1 on Tuesday, the focus was on Boone’s head-scratching decision to keep Chisholm on the bench rather than start him against Boston left-hander Garrett Crochet. Even though the lefty-swinging Chisholm’s splits might support such a move – .733 OPS vs. left-handers, .843 OPS vs. right-handers – it seemed to many that Boone failed to put his best possible lineup on the field, especially considering that Chisholm had started 26 of the Yankees’ last 27 games against left-handed starting pitchers.
Yankees Followers Surprised by Jazz Chisholm’s Absence from Game 1 Lineup
Count Chisholm among the baffled, after a regular season during which he reached career highs in home runs (31), RBIs (80) and stolen bases (31). Reporters in the locker room following the Yankees’ 3-1 loss indicated that Chisholm was visibly upset to be missing from the starting lineup, although he kept his words short.
“Just move forward after it,” he said.
But Chisholm didn’t just move forward, he changed the narrative, with a Game 2 performance that helped New York even the series.
Getting the start at second base with Brayan Bello on the mound for Boston, Chisholm made a potentially game-saving play with two outs and runners at first and second in the top of the seventh. Chisholm went full-on dive on Masataka Yoshida’s sharply hit one-hopper up the middle to keep the ball in the infield and load the bases, and reliever Fernando Cruz retired the next batter to keep the game tied 3-3.
“That was the game right there,” Cruz said. “I think that was the play of the game. I want to make sure that it is mentioned — Jazz saved us the game.”
Harold Reynolds Calls for Jazz Chisholm to Start Game 3 for New York
And then he helped win it. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Chisholm worked a walk against Boston reliever Garrett Whitlock. Then on a full-count pitch to the next batter, Chisholm took off with the pitch and scored all the way from first on a single from Austin Wells that stayed just fair down the right-field line. Circling the bases in 9.16 seconds, Chisholm slid head-first into home plate, just beating the throw and putting the Yankees on top. With a scoreless top of the ninth, New York won 4-3, setting up a winner-takes-all Game 3.
On MLB Network’s pregame coverage early in the day, Reynolds was pretty adamant that, even with left-hander Connelly Early starting for the Red Sox, Chisholm’s name better be written on the lineup card in ink.
“If he’s not starting, it’ll be hard to root for the Yankees,” Reynolds said.
New York’s official lineup, released mid-afternoon, had Chisholm batting seventh and playing second base.
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