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Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t play in Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Red Sox, the latest setback in what’s been a trying year for the second baseman.
But as with any player, the narrative of a season can change quickly this time of year, and Chisholm is looking to do just that.
“We’re moving on,’’ Chisholm said after the Yankees beat Boston 9-2 in Game 2 on Wednesday in The Bronx to clinch a spot in the ALDS against the Rays.
“I didn’t care if I played or not today, as long as we win,’’ Chisholm said. “[Aaron] Boone’s done a great job. I always think my manager has done a great job, especially when we’re winning.”
Chisholm did his part after a year in which he put up career-worst numbers at the plate, had mental lapses in the field and was part of the infamous Blow Pop controversy while playing second base in a June game in Detroit.
And then Red Sox radio voice Will Flemming called the second baseman a “bush-league player” for stealing second and third base in a blowout win over Boston on Aug. 31.
Flemming later apologized, but Chisholm doesn’t seem to have forgotten, as he capped his productive return to the lineup by running wild on the bases again in the seventh inning of a lopsided win.
“I just wanted to keep things going,’’ Chisholm said. “No lead is safe in baseball and I’m just here to win. If [Flemming] wants to hate, he can hate.”
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On this night, though, Chisholm had bigger goals, like advancing in the postseason.
After seeing Anthony Volpe get the nod at second Wednesday, Chisholm had a fantastic catch in shallow center — with his back to the infield — to rob Adley Rutschman of a hit in the sixth.
“I practice that play almost every day,’’ Chisholm said.
And then he contributed to a rally in the bottom of the inning with a single, his second on a 2-for-3 night.
And with the game well in hand in the seventh, he walked, swiped second base standing up, then swiped third and scored on an Austin Wells single.
Before the game, Boone said he debated starting Volpe and Chisholm in each of the first two games before splitting them.
“Both days, I’ve considered it, absolutely,’’ Boone said. “Anthony’s come up and done a really good job. He did a really good job when he went down [to the minors] of just getting to work and creating that versatility for himself. He’s come up and performed well and played well. But I also feel like Jazz is an important part of this, especially moving forward. And we’re going to need both guys to win big. Ultimately, that’s where I fell on it.”
There were some people in the organization who preferred Volpe’s steadiness over Chisholm’s potential explosiveness.
And over his final 18 games of the regular season — which was interrupted by an injured-list stint because of a sprained right thumb — Chisholm heated up at the plate, with a .939 OPS.
He also led the Yankees with 41 stolen bases this year.
Chisholm showed his value in the postseason last year, when he didn’t start in Game 1 of the wild-card series but responded by scoring from first base on a Wells single in Game 2 and adding a pair of hits in the Game 3-clinching win.
With the Yankees headed to the ALDS to face Tampa Bay, Boone will have plenty of lineup decisions to make.
Few will likely be more impactful than second base, where Volpe has looked solid despite a lack of experience at the position, but Chisholm offers more offense against righty pitching.
It’s not a position battle many would have seen coming as recently as three weeks ago, when Volpe made his first start in the majors at second.
But this is not your ordinary Yankees team, not with Aaron Judge out with a calf injury, and rookies at shortstop and in center field.
And Chisholm is not your ordinary second baseman.
