Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. appears to be OK after being hit in left forearm by pitch
The Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after he is hit with a pitch during the fifth inning against the Orioles on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
The Yankees appear to have avoided the worst with Jazz Chisholm Jr.
“Appear” being the key word.
The second baseman, one of the Yankees' most dynamic overall performers this season on offense and defense, left Saturday’s 6-1 victory over the Orioles in the fifth inning after getting hit on the left forearm with a 97-mph sinker thrown by Baltimore lefthander Grant Wolfram.
Shortly after Chisholm departed, the Yankees announced that initial X-rays had come back negative and that he would be sent after the game for a CT scan. The club later announced that test also came back negative.
“Early signs good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Looks like he got him on the meat part of the forearm. We’re hopeful.”
Immediately after getting hit by the pitch, Chisholm, clearly in immense pain, took a few steps up the first-base line before heading toward the dugout, where he was met by head trainer Tim Lentych. After a brief discussion, Chisholm headed down the dugout steps and into the clubhouse.
How concerned was Aaron Judge watching that reaction after he was hit?
“Especially this time of year when you’re getting down to the postseason, he’s going to be a big part of what we do in October, so you never like seeing him [having] that pain. You’re kind of wondering what’s going to happen, especially hitting the forearm, hand area,” said Judge, who suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist in late July 2018 after getting hit by a 93.4-mph fastball thrown by the Royals’ Jakob Junis. “You never know what’s going to happen. Praying that it will be all right. He’s a tough kid, so it’ll be good.”
Chisholm is hitting only .243 but has 31 homers, 80 RBIs, an .815 OPS and 31 stolen bases.
Final Judgment
Judge went 2-for-4 Saturday, including his 53rd homer, to raise his season batting average to an MLB-leading .331, all but making him a lock to win his first career American League batting title regardless of Sunday’s results. Jacob Wilson was hitting .313 going into the Athletics' game on Saturday night.
“We’ve got one more game. We’ll see what happens,” Judge, who since debuting in 2016 has consistently swatted away opportunities to talk about individual achievements, said with a smile. “A lot of hard work. We’ve got a great team, a great opportunity . . . Just try to do everything I can in my power to get better each day. I really have nothing for you.”
Judge would become the first Yankee to win a league batting title in a full season since Bernie Williams in 1998 (he hit .339). DJ LeMahieu won the title in the COVID-19-shortened 60-game 2020 season, hitting .364.
Judge has hit five home runs in the last seven games and has a .451/.600/1.020 slash line (1.620 OPS) with nine homers and 16 RBIs in the last 16 games. He has an 1.149 OPS and 114 RBIs overall. His 20 first-inning homers this season are the most in the opening inning in MLB history.
“I mean, he’s a complete baseball player,” third baseman Ryan McMahon said. “You throw in he plays really good defense, too, I think that’s an underrated part of his game. Steals bags when he needs to. The guy can do it all, man. I think it’s a no-doubt MVP. I know I don’t vote and other people have a say, but seeing him up close for the last two months, it’s no doubt in my mind.”
Judge's toughest competition will come from the Mariners' Cal Raleigh, who entered Saturday night's game with 60 home runs — an MLB record for catchers and switch hitters — and 125 RBIs.
Extra bases
Rookie righthander Cam Schlittler, after taking over for Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John surgery) in the rotation on July 9, finished the season 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts, going 3-2, 2.47 in his final 11 outings. Schlittler allowed no more than two earned runs in 10 starts and no more than one earned run in seven starts. He struck out 84 and allowed only 58 hits in 73 innings . . . The Yankees enter Sunday with an MLB-leading 272 homers, the second-most in franchise history behind the 306 hit by Boone's 2019 team. Atlanta holds the record with the 307 homers it hit in 2023.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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