NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. spent Thursday night writhing on the dirt at Yankee Stadium, and by Friday evening the Yankees second baseman was rounding the bases after launching a baseball into the second deck.
A foul ball nobody wanted to see
Chisholm fouled a pitch straight into the ground during the fourth inning Thursday against the Chicago White Sox. The ball ricocheted up and struck him directly in the groin. The Yankees infielder crumpled immediately and stayed down for several minutes as athletic trainer Tim Lentych worked to get him back on his feet.
He never returned to that game, a 5-1 Yankees loss. What happened less than 24 hours later turned the entire episode into one of the more memorable stretches of the Yankees season.
Chisholm rated the pain at “a million” when reporters asked him about it Friday afternoon, before a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds got underway at the Stadium. He laughed off any suggestion that the moment would change his habits at the plate.
“I’ve never worn a cup,” Chisholm said. “I’m not gonna change. Just an unlucky instance right there.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he felt confident sending Chisholm back into the lineup well before Friday’s first pitch.
“I felt good about it last night,” Boone said. “I got with him last night and he seemed like he was going to be fine. They wanted to do some things this morning just to be sure, but I sent the lineup out last night because I felt confident about it.”
Revenge comes in the first inning
Chisholm batted fifth and started at second base for the Yankees. In his first at-bat, he turned on an 0-1 changeup from Reds starter Rhett Lowder and drove it 390 feet into the second deck in right field for his 11th Yankees home run of the season. The Yankee Stadium crowd, fully aware of what Chisholm had endured a day earlier, roared as he circled the bases.
It was the type of swing that needs no further explanation, yet it carried extra weight given the circumstances. A Yankees player who could barely stand 24 hours earlier had just turned around a high-velocity pitch and sent it into the seats.
Ben Rice added a three-run shot of his own with two outs in the second inning, a 433-foot blast to center field that gave Yankees starter Cam Schlittler plenty of cushion. Schlittler struck out a career-high 13 batters over six scoreless innings, and the Yankees cruised to a 5-0 win, their ninth victory in 11 games.
Chisholm wasn’t finished after the homer. In his second at-bat, he drove a 370-foot fly ball that Reds left fielder JJ Bleday tracked down on the warning track. Later, after drawing a walk in the eighth inning, Chisholm stole a base, sliding in headfirst, a move that could have easily reopened Thursday’s discomfort. He scored moments later on a single from Anthony Volpe.
Why Chisholm refuses to wear a cup
Chisholm has never worn a protective cup at any level of professional baseball, he said, even though it was required in the minor leagues.
“It was mandatory in the minor leagues, and I still never wore it,” Chisholm said. “Just not a cup guy.”
He pointed to his defensive instincts as the reason he feels comfortable going without one. Chisholm referenced Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltre, another player known for skipping the equipment.
“He trusts his hands,” Chisholm said of Beltre. “That’s the first place you’ve got to protect. If you don’t trust your hands, I’d recommend you wear a cup. I feel like it’s more defensively that you would wear a cup than hitting.”
Boone takes the opposite approach. The longtime third baseman, who played 12 major league seasons, said he still puts on a cup even for offseason batting practice.
“In December, going to hit soft toss, I put a cup on,” Boone said. “That’s the difference between this generation and my generation. I did nothing without a cup on a baseball field.”
He paused before adding a clarification that drew laughs from reporters.
“Baseball-related,” Boone said.
The bubble gum photo and the dugout reaction
Several Yankees teammates, including Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham, were seen smiling in the dugout as Chisholm was tended to on the field Thursday. Chisholm said the reaction from his Yankees teammates afterward was relatively mild.
“Not really,” Chisholm said when asked if his teammates gave him grief. “They just was asking me how my balls felt.”
One photo from Thursday’s delay drew attention online, showing Boone blowing a large bubble with his gum while trainers attended to Chisholm on the ground nearby. Boone explained there was little else for him to do in the moment.
A breakout stretch among AL second basemen
Chisholm’s performance Friday extended a stretch of strong play for the Yankees that dates back more than two months. Since April 15, he leads all American League second basemen in FanGraphs WAR at 1.7 and ranks sixth among all second basemen in baseball. Since May 1, his 1.4 fWAR over that span leads all AL second basemen and ranks second overall. The same mark and ranking hold true dating back to May 15 as well.
For a Yankees roster already missing Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Grisham to various injuries, Chisholm’s ability to play through Thursday’s pain and deliver Friday’s power gave the Yankees a much needed jolt. The win pushed the Yankees to 46-28 on the season, keeping New York atop the American League East.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
