Jazz Chisholm is enjoying playing for the New York Yankees. On Monday night, the Yankees’ newest addition, who started at third base and batted sixth in the lineup, hit two home runs in a 14-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Chisholm hit his first homer in the second inning, going opposite-field off Zach Wheeler to give New York a 2-0 lead. He came up next in the ninth off Garrett Stubbs, Philadelphia’s backup catcher who was giving the bullpen some breathing room with an eight-run deficit.
Stubbs tried to confuse Chisholm with a 65 mph pitch, but the five-year veteran wasn’t fooled and slammed the slow, high pitch into the right-field seats. Outfielder Nick Castellanos didn’t even move back as he watched the ball sail past him.
Chisholm, 26, was acquired Saturday from the Miami Marlins in exchange for three minor league prospects. The expectation is that he will eventually play center field, allowing the Yankees to move Aaron Judge to a less demanding corner outfield position.
Judge also hit two homers for the Yankees on Monday, both off regular major league pitchers. But that kind of start is what you’d expect from the MLB leader in that category. He now has 39 homers on the season, seven more than Shohei Ohtani.
For now, however, Chisholm will play third base after Gleyber Torres refused to play. in moving there from second base. The Yankees are looking for better production and defense at the position than Oswaldo Cabrera (.246 average, .646 OPS) has been providing.
Chisholm has never played third base in his major league career, but as Yankees manager Aaron Boone noted, Chisholm’s talent at shortstop should allow him to adapt.
With a 2-for-4 night, Chisholm raised his average to .251 with a .745 OPS, 13 homers, 50 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. In a Yankees uniform, he is hitting .333 with a 1.400 OPS.
