Yankees Mag: A Glove Supreme (With a Bat to Match)

It was a few hours before the night’s first pitch would be thrown at Yankee Stadium, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. seemed surprised to receive a package at his locker in the home clubhouse. The newest Yankees infielder looked quizzically at the large brown box, waiting a few seconds before tearing open the packing tape. It would be a ballpark version of Christmas in July.

A delighted Chisholm rifled through dozens of factory-fresh T-shirts in various sizes, all bearing his likeness and the words: “Smooth Jazz.” Chisholm grinned brightly, a million-dollar megawatt smile that Yankees fans have quickly come to favor. Like Annie once sang after viewing how the better half lived within the walls of the Warbucks estate, Chisholm thinks he’s going to like it here.

“I enjoy it a lot. This is what I live for,” Chisholm said. “I love the lights. I love the big crowds. I love everything like that.”

Indeed, this scene seems made for Jasrado Hermis Arrington Chisholm, Jazz for short, now appearing nightly in the Bronx by way of a Bahamian island. Acquired from the Marlins on July 27, Chisholm made an unforgettable first impression with his new fan base, becoming the first Yankee to hit four home runs in his first three games.

“This team has one of the biggest histories in the world of sports,” Chisholm said. “When you’re a kid growing up, all you hear about is the Yankees. Your dream is to go do that and succeed on this stage.”

While the Yankees were delighted to see their new pickup swat like Babe Ruth for a few days, his more lasting impact may be on the defensive side. An infielder by trade who moved to the outfield last season with Miami, Chisholm has gamely accepted the challenge of an in-season switch to third base, a position at which he had never appeared as a professional. Yankees manager Aaron Boone aimed to lower expectations by warning of potential “growing pains” that loomed at the position, but Chisholm’s first few games at the hot corner included nifty double-play turns and highlight-reel snags -- smooth Jazz, just as advertised.

“You can tell that he’s enjoying himself,” Boone said. “Guys are already starting to throw their arms around him, and he’s fit in right away, with that smile on his face. You can tell he likes the action.”

***

The sequence of events that fitted Chisholm for pinstripes began months prior, as the Yankees’ baseball operations department investigated potential upgrades for a playoff-bound roster. Chisholm, an electric 26-year-old with blazing speed, a rocket arm and a left-handed bat, presented obvious appeal.

Through parts of five seasons with the Marlins, Chisholm had displayed immense potential, highlighted by an All-Star selection in 2022 that prompted his appearance on the cover of the “MLB The Show” video game the following spring. Chisholm dripped with flair: Here was a magnetic, bat-flipping star who’d celebrate homers by Euro stepping across home plate and once showed up for Opening Day with his hair dyed blue. Appealing? Marketable? You bet.

Chisholm was photographed gripping sunglasses and a thick golden chain in promotional photos for the video game, surrounded by neon pink and purple graphics. He looked the part of a flashy social media-era superstar, popping off the shelves at GameStop and Target, demanding customers take a closer look. It was no accident; Chisholm sees himself as not just an athlete but an entertainer. As he once boasted: “One of one. There’s only one of me in the world.”

Yet while Chisholm ruled the digital summer, his real-life performance dipped. Limited to 97 games by injuries in 2023, his Marlins made a brief postseason cameo as attendance in Miami remained sparse -- the NL’s worst, at just over 7,000 fans per game. Watching from afar, the Yankees believed Chisholm would benefit from a more electric environment; that a scenery change would allow his skills to flourish. They weren’t alone in that viewpoint. One of the franchise’s most legendary figures saw it, too.

“I just think he’s going to get better and better. There’s a lot in there,” said Don Mattingly, who was Chisholm’s manager for three seasons with the Marlins and is now the Blue Jays’ bench coach. “It’s just about more reps, more experience. He was good right away in Miami; he just got banged up every year. He plays in a way that he gets hurt a lot. If he stays on the field, he’s going to have a good year.”

Quietly, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman dispatched lieutenants to poke and prod like investigators. They had heard whispers about Chisholm’s personality, including a public clash with former teammate Miguel Rojas. Derek Jeter was among the sources they tapped, as the former Yankees captain was familiar with Chisholm from his tenure in the Miami front office. Jeter remained a fan and offered this advice: Get him.

“We did a lot of research on him, and we’re excited to have him,” Cashman said. “He’s very athletic. He plays the game with joy. Ultimately, after our deep dive, we felt like he’d fit in really well and would be a really perfect piece.”

Yankees captain Aaron Judge also favored a Chisholm acquisition, promising that he and other leaders would help with any necessary transition. Judge said he knew Chisholm from several positive encounters in recent years and performed boots-on-the-ground research, speaking with former coaches and teammates. “The most important thing it kept coming back to was, he wants to win,” Judge said.

That was also the message relayed by Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, who was the Marlins’ bench coach for Chisholm’s first three seasons.

“What you see is what you get,” Rowson said. “He’s that kind of talent, that kind of energy. Wherever he is, he will give you a shot in the arm. Even in the Miami market, he was always looking for the big moments; he craved those. The cool part here [in New York] is, he’s got a lot of guys around him that think the same way.”

Mattingly, for one, says that he lobbied Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins to make a deal that could have brought his former player north of the border.

“I think any big market is a good place for him,” Mattingly said. “Quite honestly, I told Ross, ‘This dude, the fans would love him.’ He plays in a way that fans love. He plays with energy, he’s stealing bags, he’s exciting. He hits the ball a ton, and when he hits it, it can go a long way. Fans just love him, and he likes the spotlight, which is a good thing in New York.”

Cashman struck a deal with the Marlins on the afternoon of July 27, hours before his team was scheduled to take the field against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Miami would receive three Minor Leaguers -- catcher Agustín Ramírez, infielder Jared Serna and infielder Abrahan Rodriguez -- in exchange for Chisholm, who was batting .249 with 13 home runs and a .730 OPS at the time of the deal.

It was roughly league-average performance, yet a likely upgrade for a lineup struggling to protect the dynamic duo of Juan Soto and Judge. In a brief chat on the day of the trade, Chisholm expressed enthusiasm to Boone, who remarked: “You certainly could hear it in his voice, how excited he is to be coming here, to have the chance to win and play with the Yankees.”

Chisholm said his reaction to the deal was “great,” adding, “I found out I was going to go to a contending team, a team that was in first place, fighting for a playoff spot. I’m excited to play in October for the Yankees.”

The trade drew significant interest in New York, where even minor transactions can dominate a news cycle, but it was front-page news back in the Bahamas. Several days after his arrival, Chisholm gestured toward his cell phone, safely stowed on the top shelf of a locker. It was like a possessed slot machine, alternating between pings, lights and buzzes from well-wishers. Even Philip Davis, the Bahamian prime minister, had weighed in with congratulations, expressing interest in traveling to see Chisholm play in the Bronx.

The 26-year-old from Nassau is just the second Yankee from the Bahamas, following Antoan Richardson, best known for scoring the winning run in Jeter’s final Yankee Stadium at-bat in 2014. Chisholm explained that “everybody in the Bahamas is a Yankees fan,” and he’d know. As a child, he’d grown up watching satellite feeds of the YES Network, counting the 2009 Yankees as his favorite team -- a star-studded roster filled with must-see talents like CC Sabathia, Robinson Canó, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and, of course, Jeter. Chisholm was thrilled to enter their universe.

“It was super exciting,” Chisholm said. “Every kid dreams of being a Yankee. This is the most famous team in baseball, the team that Derek Jeter played on. Everybody’s favorite player was Derek Jeter growing up, and I had him as an owner. I feel like it was only right to come along and put on this uniform.”

***

The vehicle crawled through rush-hour traffic, inching toward the bright light stanchions towering over the Fenway-Kenmore section of Boston. For about a half-hour, Chisholm stared out the passenger window, a cocktail of anxiety and excitement swirling within his system. None of the motorists occupying Storrow Drive’s clogged arteries seemed aware of who was riding in the vehicle next to them, though perhaps that was for the best. No one was going to clear a path for the newest Yankee, not in this city.

Chisholm’s flight from Milwaukee had been delayed by about an hour, spinning wide circles over greater Massachusetts as pilots waited for clearance to land. About 90 minutes before Alex Verdugo would see the game’s first pitch from Tanner Houck, and some four hours after the Yankees’ team bus had pulled up outside Fenway, Chisholm bounded through the gates and hustled inside.

“I was just hoping I would still be able to start the game,” he said.

Boone shook Chisholm’s hand in a formal welcome, telling his new player that he would be batting fifth -- sandwiched between catcher Austin Wells and second baseman Gleyber Torres. That was curious, considering that many expected Chisholm to be a speedy tablesetter. Though Boone raved about Chisholm’s plus speed (rated a 70 on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale, and now the best on the Yankees’ roster), the manager believed he had seen decent signs from Verdugo and Torres of late.

Chisholm would hit in the middle of the order, with the defensive wrinkles still to come. With a nod to Chisholm’s hectic travel, Boone would play him in center field for a night before beginning workouts at third base with infield coach Travis Chapman.

Sporting a backward cap and a neon green belt as he ran pregame sprints in left field, Chisholm picked up his first Yankees hit in that July 28 contest, an 8-2 victory. (He was also elbowed in the jaw on a play at second base.) The intensity wasn’t just on the field. Chisholm gushed over the packed house of more than 36,000; although he had played in four previous games at Fenway, Chisholm quickly learned that Marlins/Red Sox is a lot different than The Rivalry.

“For me, I feel like it’s something more to play for -- playing for a championship, playing for a ring,” he said.

It was soon off to Philadelphia, and as promised, Chisholm spent the early afternoon pounding the dirt at third base. Boone’s warnings about rough play ahead seemed overly cautious, as Chisholm picked hot grounders and effortlessly whipped strong throws across the infield. His muscle memory as a shortstop, Chisholm would later explain, allowed him to instantly feel at home.

“I really do feel as comfortable as I look over there,” he said. “I was a shortstop all my life. When I was in the Minor Leagues and they had the shift going on, I had to start to play third base because I was the only guy on that side. So, I feel super comfortable going back over there and just doing the same thing.”

Chisholm was no Little Leaguer praying for the ball to avoid him, yet he was targeted almost immediately. The Phillies’ second batter, Trea Turner, chopped a grounder to third base. Chisholm ranged a few steps to his left and fired to Torres at second base, beginning a textbook 5-4-3 double play. He’d hardly accepted his congratulations in the dugout when Chisholm’s turn at the plate came up against Zack Wheeler, one of the National League’s top starters.

Pouncing on the first pitch, Chisholm powered it over the left-field wall. As Judge grinned broadly, slapping the dugout railing in celebration, Chisholm savored the trot. Chain bouncing as he ran, he completed the 360-foot journey with the Euro step.

“It’s great for him. He deserves it,” Rowson said. “He won’t shy away from it. He wants a big moment; there’s no doubt about that. Hopefully we can continue to put him in spots where those things are happening, and it leads to wins for us.”

The game was out of hand by the ninth inning, when the Phils tabbed catcher Garrett Stubbs to pitch mopup relief in the eventual 14-4 Yankees victory. Chisholm wasn’t thrilled; he had struggled against position players, who threw well below his hitting speed. He thought about batting right-handed against Stubbs, then had a better idea as he eyed Judge’s 35-ounce, 33-inch hunk of Chandler maple -- a bat that had already powered Judge’s 39th homer earlier in the night. Would Judge lend his game bat to a teammate?

“He was holding it, kind of taking some practice swings, and looked at me and said, ‘You mind?’” Judge said. “I said, ‘Go for it, but make sure you use it.’”

Chisholm did just that, barreling a two-run shot into the right-field seats. Judge joked that he should be credited with a half-homer. Chisholm agreed, but only as long as he still received credit for a full blast.

“I’m definitely not going to use that again,” Chisholm said with a laugh. “That bat was so heavy.”

Judge’s lumber wasn’t needed the next day, as Chisholm’s honeymoon continued in a wild extra-inning win over the Phillies. The newly minted third baseman homered twice, cracking a sixth-inning blast off Aaron Nola and a go-ahead shot off Matt Strahm in the seventh. Attempting to recall the second homer, Chisholm said: “I’m not going to lie, I kind of blacked out. I was just super excited.”

Four homers in three games. There had never been an introduction quite like it in more than a century of Yankees baseball. No wonder that, as the club bussed up the New Jersey Turnpike after the Philadelphia series, Yankees fans were waiting to embrace Chisholm. When the Bleacher Creatures included him in the traditional roll call during the top of the first inning on Aug. 2, Chisholm acknowledged them by mimicking a basketball jump shot -- an homage to his all-time favorite athlete, Kobe Bryant.

“He always shined in the brightest moments, no matter what,” Chisholm said of the late Lakers legend. “That’s how I feel and how I play. It gives me that competitive edge.”

Speed, slug, swag -- Chisholm showcased it all during his first week with the Yankees, and there should be plenty more to come. Although an elbow sprain sent him to the 10-day IL in mid-August, Chisholm is signed through 2026 and appears to be a piece the organization can count upon for this year and beyond. This much is certain: There is no place he’d rather be.

“I’m having the most fun in the world,” Chisholm said. “I feel like a kid out there again.”

Bryan Hoch is a contributing writer to Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the September 2024 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.