Yankees' Jazz Chisholm . . . could a 40-40 season be in his future?

BALTIMORE — After stealing two bases a week ago Friday to give him 30 for the season, Jazz Chisholm Jr. stood two homers away from joining an exclusive club, one that only two Yankees before him had reached in a single season — at least 30 stolen bases and at least 30 homers.

“It would mean a lot if we win the division with it,” Chisholm said of the milestone. “That would feel like I helped the team a lot and helped us win. But if we don’t win the division with it, it won’t mean as much as I would want it to mean in my heart.”

After hitting his 30th homer in Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Orioles — which allowed him to join Bobby Bonds (1975) and Alfonso Soriano (2002 and ’03) as Yankees to have 30-30 seasons — Chisholm sounded a similar tune.

But he didn't downplay the achievement, either.

“It’s great. I wish it would have come in a win today, but it’s great,” he said. “It’s kind of upsetting not to get the ‘W’ tonight to come closer to the Blue Jays to win the pennant. That’s all we’re thinking about right now, winning the division.”

That prospect, already a long shot, became a longer one Friday. The Blue Jays allowed 27 hits in a 20-1 loss to the Royals, but the Yankees were unable to take advantage. Entering Saturday, the Yankees trailed Toronto by three games with eight games remaining. Because the Blue Jays own the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series against the Yankees, Toronto's magic number to clinch was five.

Still, not winning the AL East title does nothing to diminish Chisholm’s accomplishment and what he’s brought to the club since being acquired from the Marlins before the 2024 trade deadline.

Chisholm provided an immediate spark for the offense upon putting on a Yankees uniform and did so despite playing primarily at a position he had never before played professionally — third base — because Gleyber Torres, now with the Tigers, publicly and privately expressed a desire to stay at second.

Chisholm  was just thrilled — and still is — to be with a contending team as opposed to the typically bad Marlins, with whom he spent the first five years of his career.

Chisholm, 27, who avoided arbitration last winter by agreeing in January to a $5.85 salary for 2025, is arbitration-eligible one more year and is certain to get a significant raise this offseason. Though there will be some noise from the outside about extension talks, it's highly doubtful that will happen because a.) the Yankees’ top priority likely will be retaining free-agent-to-be outfielder Cody Bellinger and b.) managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner’s organizational policy of not talking extensions.  (There have been exceptions over the years — Aaron Judge, for one — but not many.)

“I feel like it’s boosted my career in 100% of different ways,” Chisholm said  of joining the Yankees. “The winning mentality, the winning atmosphere, the way everybody in the front office to the training staff wants to win is how I felt like I grew up playing baseball and what I needed to be around to be even more successful.”

Entering Saturday, he was hitting only .242 but with an .816 OPS and a career high in homers.

Those are impressive numbers overall, numbers that manager Aaron Boone multiple times in recent weeks has said would be even better if Chisholm had not missed 28 games with a right oblique strain.

“Obviously, a 30-30 [season] invokes a lot of things,” Boone said Friday. “It certainly lines up with his skill set, but the fact he’s done that with missing a month of the season, not running for parts of the year, just a peek into what a good player he is.”

The 30 steals are the second-most in Chisholm’s career behind the 40 he stole last season in a combined 147 games with the Marlins and Yankees.

That, naturally, raises the possibility of Chisholm in some future season becoming the seventh player in MLB history to record a 40-40 season. If Chisholm were to do it with the Yankees, he would be the first in franchise history to reach that plateau (Alex Rodriguez did it with the Mariners in 1998).

From the time he arrived in New York (and well before that), the outgoing Chisholm has said he believes he’s that kind of player.

“I think I’ve been saying that from the time I was a rookie,” Chisholm said with a smile. “I definitely think 40-40’s achievable in a full, healthy season.”

Notes & quotes: Giancarlo Stanton, MLB’s active leader in home runs, hit a three-run blast to rightfield with two outs in the first inning Saturday night to give him 450. With his 21st homer of the season, he moved past Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Jeff Bagwell into sole possession of 41st place on the all-time list. Aaron Judge’s 49th home run gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead in the third.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

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.