Yankees player Jazz Chisholm Jr. is scheduled to rest and rehabilitate a UCL injury in his left elbow and is expected to play again this season, according to Jon Heyman and Greg Joyce of the New York Post. He may still be sidelined in September, but it’s clearly good news for the Yanks that their high-impact deadline pick won’t need immediate surgery and can be brought back.
Chisholm hit the injured list two days ago after suffering a sprained left elbow on a slide at home plate. As we’ve seen in the past with position players, it’s possible to play with a ligament injury in your non-throwing elbow without much impact at the plate. (Both Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper have had productive stretches at the plate despite hamstring injuries that eventually required surgery.) That will be the goal for the Yankees and Chisholm in the short term. There has yet to be any indication that potentially season-ending surgery has been ruled out. Most likely, that will depend on how Chisholm’s elbow reacts to the rest. Most – but not all – UCL sprains eventually require surgical repair.
The 26-year-old Chisholm has been part of the Yankees since being acquired from the Marlins for a package deal signed by a young catcher. Agustin Ramirez. In 14 games and 61 plate appearances, he ripped in an incredible seven runs while hitting .316/.361/.702. That surge propelled Chisholm to 20 homers, and the five bases he swiped along the way gave him 27 steals on the year. The first 20-20 season of the Bahamian-born midfielder’s career.
The combination of Chisholm’s power speed and potential for a 20-20 or 30-30 season has been evident, but he is too injury prone to see that kind of production until the 2024 campaign. He previously dealt with shoulder, back, foot and oblique injuries that limited him to 281 games over three seasons from 2021-23. His latest injury looks like it will lead to an absence, but if Chisholm is back for even half of September, he could have time to surpass his previous career high of 124 games in a major league season.
The Yankees control Chisholm through arbitration through the 2026 season. He earns $2.625MM in 2024 and will be doubled over the next two seasons. Chisholm has served as their starting third baseman since being acquired, though he has Gleyber Torres set to become a free agent at the end of the season, a return to second base for Chisholm next season could be in the cards. His hot run with the Yankees raised his season line from about average to a more productive .257/.328/.445, and Chisholm is now putting up a similar .254/.319/.468 slash with 53 long balls and 10 stolen bases. 61 with 1115 plate appearances dating back to 2022.
Source link
