Jazz Chisholm didn’t exactly tiptoe into the Yankees’ next playoff round.
Fresh off Wednesday night’s 9-2 Game 2 win over the Red Sox and the champagne-soaked celebration that followed, Chisholm made his feelings clear about what comes next against the Rays. The Yankees head into the Division Series with momentum, confidence and a player who isn’t shy about turning a playoff series into a promise.
“I love the city, I love the team, can’t wait for the next series.”
That came during a TV interview as the clubhouse party kept rolling around him. A few minutes later, Chisholm went even further in a one-on-one with NJ.com, backing up his belief with a line the Rays probably won’t love hearing.
Here’s the back and forth:
NJ.com: You’re an outspoken guy. Give me a prediction?
Jazz: “You know what my prediction is, man. I don’t know why you ask.”
NJ.com: Yankees in three? Is that your prediction?
Jazz: “I love it. I love that!
I’m not a sports bettor, so I don’t know predictions. I just like to say that my team is going to win.”
You guarantee it?
Jazz: “I guarantee it! That’s my thought.
I never think I’m going to lose. That’s just me.”
Chisholm’s guarantee landed with even more force because the Yankees are moving on without Aaron Judge, who is rehabbing his Grade 2 right calf strain. Even so, they just outscored Boston 18-2 in the two-game sweep.
Now the challenge gets bigger. The Rays won the AL East, took the season series and finished with the best record in the league, which earned them a first-round bye.
They also open the best-of-five Division Series Saturday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Chisholm didn’t pretend that part of the assignment is easy.
“I think it’s going to be a great series,” Chisholm said on TV. “I think we’re going to play just as hard as we did in this series. We’re going to have a lot of fun … and we’re going to come here and celebrate again!”
He also acknowledged the Rays bring a different kind of problem than the Red Sox did.
“Of course, they will be,” he said. “But they play small ball, and I feel like once we have our guys out there protecting (against) that … We hold that down and don’t make any mistakes, we got it.”
Then came the kind of question that suggests Chisholm is already looking at how the matchup lines up.
“Are they pitching all righties?”
That appears to be the case. The Rays are set to start Drew Rasmussen in Game 1, with Nick Martinez and Freddy Peralta in some order for the next two games, then probably Griffin Jax in Game 4. All of them throw right-handed.
That matters for the Yankees’ lineup choices, especially if Aaron Boone keeps using the same platoon arrangement from the Wild Card Series. Chisholm, a left-handed hitter, would be in line to start against righties, while Anthony Volpe, a right-handed hitter, would be the one left out.
Boone opened the Red Sox series with Volpe in the lineup against rookie left-hander Payton Tolle in Game 1. Chisholm returned for Game 2 against Red Sox right-hander Sonny Gray and delivered, going 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two stolen bases.
Cam Schlittler, meanwhile, didn’t blink when told about Chisholm’s guarantee. The Yankees ace smiled and nodded, and when asked whether he’d make the same call, he answered without hesitation.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he said.
The Rays do have home-field advantage, and they’ve been hard to beat at the Trop. Their 55-26 home record tied the Brewers’ mark at American Family Field for the best home record in the majors.
Chisholm, though, didn’t sound like a player worried about that edge. When the topic came up, he smirked and let the pause hang there for a few seconds before firing back:
“What do you think it’s going to be when we’re there?”
If the regular season is any clue, there may be plenty of Yankees fans in the building anyway.
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