BOSTON – Jazz Chisholm Jr. skipped making comments after the game but confidently labeled the Yankees as “the best team in the league” once more.
He backed that up on the field, leading the Yankees to a 5-3 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Saturday, marking his third game with multiple hits.
Among those hits was his 29th home run of the season, which puts him just one away from his first 30-30 season, having already secured 30 stolen bases.
“What I want is to help the team win, and I think I did that today,” Chisholm stated.
Since joining the Yankees from the Marlins before last year’s trade deadline, he’s been making an impact.
Saturday marked Chisholm’s 162nd game with the Yankees, tallying 40 home runs and 48 stolen bases during this period.
Stat Guru Katie Sharp noted that Chisholm is the sixth Yankee to hit 40 homers in their first 162 games.
“It’s really impressive,” commented Aaron Boone on Chisholm getting closer to the 30-30 milestone.
However, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Chisholm. In his first year, he faced oblique strains and nagging leg injuries.
The oblique issue sidelined him for all of May, and from June 11 to July 29, he attempted just two stolen bases—and was caught both times.
Overall, he missed 28 games and went through a stretch of 39 games without a steal.
Nevertheless, when he’s been healthy, Chisholm has shown he can be one of the most exciting players the Yankees have had for a while.
He’s now on the brink of the franchise’s first 30-30 season since Alfonso Soriano achieved it in back-to-back years in 2002 and 2003.
“He missed a month and struggled to steal when he returned, still coping with his leg issues,” Boone explained. “It was nearly two months of play when he wasn’t swiping bases alongside a month off.”
Initially, Chisholm moved from second to third base, which was the position the Yankees envisioned for him when they acquired him.
However, when Gleyber Torres expressed resistance to shifting to third as free agency approached, Chisholm accepted the challenge.
Now back at third, Chisholm has shown his brilliance on both offense and defense.
Several of his skills were on full display during Saturday’s game. He opened with a squib single in the first inning and later hit a run-scoring single to left, bringing Aaron Judge to third base.
Chisholm came through again against Boston’s Breyan Bello in the fifth inning, hitting another single that expanded the Yankees’ lead to 4-0.
This game marked Chisholm’s third consecutive outing with multiple hits, bringing his tally to five RBIs over that span and a remarkable 1.066 OPS in 11 games against Boston this season.
