Jazz Chisholm Jr. exits game with thumb injury

Chisholm has been shelved since September 9 due to a right thumb sprain. It sounds like he’s making considerable progress in his recovery though and could only be days away from a return to the Yankees’ lineup.

Based on Aaron Boone’s comments yesterday, it sounds like this may just be a minimum stint on the IL after he is shut down from baseball activities for 7-10 days. There doesn’t appear to be much danger of Chisholm missing the playoffs, but obviously given where we are in the regular season, teams in need of immediate stats can move on.

Boone elaborated that Chisholm, who is available to pinch-run off the bench during Wednesday’s contest against the Rockies, will be shut down from baseball activities for at least 7-10 days. The 28-year-old power/speed combo threat, who has racked up 19 homers and 40 steals in 134 games this season, suffered the injury on a slide into second base during the ninth inning of Tuesday’s game. There’s a chance that he’s done for the rest of the regular season with just over two weeks remaining on the calendar. Needless to say, it’s a significant loss for the Yankees as they try to overtake the Rays for the AL East division crown down the home stretch. He’ll be officially placed on the injured list before Thursday’s series finale with Anthony Volpe coming up to take his roster spot.

We’ll surely hear more about Chisholm’s thumb soon, but José Caballero is starting in his place tonight.

With left-hander Robbie Ray taking the mound for the Padres, the Yankees will give Chisholm a well-deserved night off in this one. Amed Rosario will start in his place at second base and will bat third for the Bombers on Saturday evening in San Diego.

Chisholm padded the Yankees’ lead early with a solo homer off Grayson Rodriguez, going back-to-back with Spencer Jones. He later led off the fourth with a base hit before adding a single and a run scored in the eighth. The 28-year-old second baseman is slashing .232/.331/.408 with 19 homers, 67 runs scored, 55 RBI, and 40 steals across 505 plate appearances.

The two thefts give Chisholm 40 on the season, tying a career high with a month left to play. It has certainly been impactful for fantasy leagues, but it has come with a .227 batting average and without outstanding run scored and RBI totals. Prior to the season, Chisholm talked about going 50/50 in his free-agent walk year, and he has a good chance of getting there with the steals. He’s been limited to 18 homers, however, after finishing with 31 last year.

No surprises here with rookie lefty Jake Bennett toeing the rubber for the opening contest of Saturday’s twin bill at Yankee Stadium. It’ll be Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario getting a look at first and second base, respectively, with Heliot Ramos getting into the lineup in right field.

Chisholm now has 18 homers to go along with 34 stolen bases this season. It’s helpful in fantasy, especially because his dual eligibility includes second base, one of the tougher positions to fill. However, his .220 batting average has actively hurt roto managers, and the remaining counting stats aren’t anything to get too excited about. Chisholm profiles as a potential 30/30 threat heading into 2027, but his long-term fantasy value is tied heavily to stolen bases, barring a big bounce-back season at the plate.

Chisholm has been scuffling in recent weeks, hitting .188 (18-for-96) with four homers and seven steals in 28 games since last month’s All-Star break. He’s been ice-cold recently, batting only .148 (8-for-54) with two extra-base hits in 17 games since the beginning of August. He’ll continue to be penciled into the lower third of New York’s lineup card, especially with Cody Bellinger (hamstring) and Aaron Judge (rib) expected to return soon.