A chorus of concern around Jazz Chisholm has turned into a full-blown lineup debate for the Yankees, and one sports talk host didn’t bother softening the message.
On a recent episode of BTunleashed, he said the club should cut back Chisholm’s role at second base and give Jose Caballero the job.
“I don’t need to see Jazz Chisholm play more than once or twice a week the rest of the way,” he said. “… And I would make [Jose] Caballero my starting second baseman.
I really would. And again, I wouldn’t just nail Jazz to the bench where he gets two at-bats in a week, two pinch-hitting at-bats.
No. But I’m going to run Caballero out there and I’m going to see if Caballero can kind of recapture some of that early season magic that he had when he was the starting shortstop.”
Chisholm’s numbers haven’t helped quiet the noise. After saying in spring training that he believed he could join the 50-50 club, he’s now batting .216 with 17 homers and 32 stolen bases. He also has 48 RBI and a .683 OPS.
Still, David Cone offered a different view on the YES Network during the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. The Yankees legend said Aaron Boone should keep playing Chisholm against right-handed pitching down the stretch because of the damage he can do if he gets rolling.
“Facing righties, you gotta give Jazz a chance to get going here down the stretch,” Cone said. “He’s that kind of player if he gets hot.”
Caballero’s own playing time has been squeezed since the Yankees made George Lombard Jr. their starting shortstop on Aug. 4.
Before Sunday, Caballero hadn’t appeared since last Thursday, and before that he had gone five days without playing after Aug. 8.
But when Boone went to Caballero on Sunday, the move paid off. In the seventh inning, Caballero lined a single that brought Lombard Jr. home and made it 2-1 before Caballero was thrown out at second. He also finished with a strikeout and a walk, then moved to third base after Paul Goldschmidt pinch hit for Ryan McMahon in the seventh.
Chisholm also got involved late, collecting a single and a stolen base in the ninth after pinch running for Goldschmidt in the seventh.
The booth conversation between Cone and Michael Kay kept circling back to what Boone might do next. Kay wondered whether Caballero’s big hit would “warrant another start” on Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles.
“The Orioles will be starting a right-hander [Shane Baz] on Tuesday so in all likelihood it would be Jazz [starting at second base],” Kay said.
“You got two options with Caballero,” Cone said. “He can play third, too, when he’s spelling McMahon against a tough lefty.”
Cone then came back to the same point: against righties, Chisholm should still get a shot, because he can be a major threat “if he gets hot.”
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