Wednesday night could have been Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s final game as a New York Yankee following his team’s elimination at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series.
If Wednesday was the end of Chisholm’s time in New York, it wasn’t exactly an amicable exit for the pending free agent.
Facing a 2-0 deficit in the series, manager Aaron Boone elected to sit the left-handed hitting Chisholm against right-hander Nick Martinez in favour of righty Anthony Volpe, who spent a large portion of the season in the minor leagues.
Chisholm eventually pinch-hit for Jose Caballero in the home half of the seventh inning but popped out to foul territory and was booed loudly on his way back to the dugout.
While Chisholm largely elected not to discuss the lineup decision, he did speak to reporters about hearing boos late in an elimination game.
“It doesn’t hurt. It’s just confusing because it’s the playoffs and we’re trying to win games. So you’re booing a guy that’s playing trying to help the team win,” Chisholm said.
“And you’re hearing boos instead of trying to hype guys up, you know what I mean? But at the end of the day, like I said, it didn’t hurt me because I’ve seen Aaron Judge get booed here too, so, who am I? That’s a three-time MVP.”
Still, it doesn’t seem like the boos affected Chisholm’s desire to return to the Bronx.
“I do hope to be back,” he said.
“I love it as a Yankee. I grew up as a Yankee fan... Who doesn’t want to stay with a team you’ve had such great times with? To see it maybe end here sucks.”
While he didn’t go into detail into about Boone’s decision to sit him in Game 3, Chisholm did say that he would have preferred a heads up.
Boone was concise when asked about the decision.
“Just felt like it. I felt like I wanted to go with [Volpe] today,” he said.
Having Volpe in the lineup paid off as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, nearly tying the game with what could have been a two-run home run in the sixth inning that was called back for fan interference.
Chisholm is expected to be one of the top free-agent position players on the market this winter. He was acquired by the Yankees in a trade with the Miami Marlins in 2024 and was an All-Star the year after when he hit 31 home runs with 31 stolen bases and an .813 OPS. However, Chisholm regressed this season, slashing .231/.312/.399 with 19 homers and 55 driven in.
The 28-year-old finished the ALDS 0-for-8 with a walk and an error in Game 2. Chisholm also reached on a fielder’s choice in the ninth inning and stole second but was unable to come home as the tying run after Rays closer Bryan Baker struck out Trent Grisham to end the game and the Yankees’ season.
Chisholm picked up two hits, two runs scored and two stolen bases in the Yankees’ victory over the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card round the week before.
He was disappointed the team wasn’t able to carry that momentum into the next series.
“It’s very frustrating. You can see on my face; you can see on everybody else’s face we’re not happy. Nobody wants to go home. Have to go home and think about it for another four months before the season starts up again,” he said.