With a string of seven stolen bases in his last seven attempts, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has clearly turned the page on the 39-game drought that saw him go without a steal.
The first signs he was coming out of it came in an 11-inning win over Tampa Bay at the Stadium in which he stole two bags. He picked up the pace with three steals in the first two games of the three-game series with the Twins at the Stadium that concluded Wednesday night.
“I was hurt all that time,” Chisholm said before first pitch Wednesday. “Thought it was obvious. For weeks I barely ran hard. There were ground balls I should have beaten out, but I had to play it smart and stay in the games.”
Chisholm missed 28 games including all of May with an oblique strain and returned June 3 way ahead of schedule. Eight days later he came out of the June 11 game at Kansas City with left groin tightness and though the club saw him as being able to play through it, he was counseled not to push it.
“Me being healthy enough to be on the field and play was going to be better than not being able to play,” Chisholm said. “Helping the team was [the priority], even though it might have taken a little longer to get past it.”
And the second baseman was very productive, despite not having his game-defining speed. Over that stretch, he hit .271 with 16 extra-base hits (nine home runs) and 25 RBI.
Even though I wasn’t stealing and stuff like that, I had a lot of doubles, homers . . . sac flies and things like that,” he said. “The doubles were cruising into second. . . and scoring from second, I wasn’t going all out.”
He said that about 10 days ago, he stopped feeling any discomfort when he ran, but also said, “you guard yourself for a minute in that moment because it’s a scary injury that can mess you up for a long time.”
Chisholm has 17 stolen bases on the season and had two of four by the Yankees in Tuesday’s 9-1 win – including one by Aaron Judge.
“I’d say he’s learning, but let’s not let his mind get too big,” he said of Judge.
Asked about Chisholm’s uptick in stolen bases, manager Aaron Boone replied, “It’s one of the things he really brings to the table.”
“His first few weeks, he was dealing with a leg issue, so he wasn’t stealing [and] we weren’t running him,” he added. “Over the last 10 days, Jazz and a number of other guys, they’ve done a really good job in the running game and stealing some bases and bringing that dynamic to the table. And it’s certainly a dynamic that [Chisholm] brings.”
And Chisholm is thrilled to have that part of his game back.
“It’s one of my favorite parts of the game because I can control the outcome most times,” he said. “Unless the guy just gets a perfect catch and throw off and he puts it right on the dime, I don’t think most guys will get me out.”
Stanton again starts in rightfield
Giancarlo Stanton started in rightfield for the fourth time in five days and it’s sounding like this will continue for a bit while Aaron Judge ramps up his throwing program in his return from a strained flexor in his right elbow. Boone said Stanton is holding up well in his return to the outfield, that having no game Thursday is a good break for him and that Stanton is unlikely to play the field in Sunday’s afternoon finale of the three-game series in St. Louis. Judge is now making throws at 120 feet, hasn’t yet begun throwing to bases and continues to have no timeline on returning to play the outfield.
Dominguez healthy, Boone says
The Yankees again went with a starting outfield of Stanton, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger. That makes three straight games Jasson Dominguez hasn’t started, but Boone said he is in good health. “We’re doing all we can to win every day [and] JD is a big part of it,” he said. “I know it’s [been] a few days he hasn’t played [but] it’s a little snapshot in a long season.”
Yarbrough, Cruz get rehab assignments
Lefthander Ryan Yarbrough (right oblique strain) and righthanded reliever Fernando Cruz (left oblique strain) will both begin minor league rehab assignments on Thursday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Yarborough will be stretched out to throw multiple innings, but Boone couldn’t forecast a return to the rotation or the bullpen. Cruz should need three rehab outings and could return in a week’s time.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.