Yankees move All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third base back to second

Hindustan Times

19 hours ago

NEW YORK — All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. is moving back to second base with the New York Yankees in place of DJ LeMahieu, who is heading to the bench. Yankees move All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third base back to second
New York also placed reliever Mark Leiter Jr. on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Monday, with a stress fracture in his left leg. Clayton Beeter was recalled from Triple-A, and fellow right-hander Cam Schlittler will be called up Wednesday night to start against Seattle in his major league debut.
Chisholm began the season at second, his most natural position after breaking into the big leagues there with Miami five years ago. But he played third for the Yankees last year and had been starting there again since returning in early June from a right oblique strain — after New York third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera broke his left ankle May 12.
LeMahieu came off the injured list the following day and, although he has plenty of experience at both spots, has made all 35 of his starts this year at second base.
LeMahieu won three Gold Gloves at second with Colorado from 2014-18 — and another one in a utility role with the Yankees in 2022. But he turns 37 on Sunday and his range has been diminished by a series of toe, foot and hip injuries.
Chisholm, meanwhile, has made some wild throws from third lately while hampered by a sore shoulder, and New York has been shaky overall on defense at times.
'Obviously, the last week was a little bit of a struggle for him over at third. I think part of that is just being a little banged up and not being able to do some of his prep work that allows him to stay on top of things at third,' manager Aaron Boone said. "But I think just letting his athleticism go in the middle of the diamond is something that serves him and us well.'
Chisholm began the day batting .245 with 15 homers, 38 RBIs and an .841 OPS. He was selected to the AL All-Star team Sunday, when he sat out a 6-4 win over the New York Mets that snapped the Yankees' second six-game losing streak since mid-June.
He was back at second base for Tuesday night's series opener against the Mariners, with Oswald Peraza starting at third and batting ninth.
"Just with what we've gone through here the last week, and again, Jazz not being able to lean into some of the throwing stuff that he would normally do, just felt like it made sense to do this right now,' Boone said. 'He's good with it. ... He's ready to go do his thing there.'
The manager called it a 'fluid' situation and was asked what the plan is at third base going forward.
'It's Peraza tonight — and we'll see,' he said.
The 25-year-old Peraza can play second, third and shortstop — but he was batting only .154 with three homers, 13 RBIs and a .487 OPS.
"I think wherever you put him on the diamond, the defense has been phenomenal. He's a really talented defender," Boone said. "I still think there's that upside and talent in there offensively, too. I mean, he's got pop, he's got athleticism, he can drive the ball the other way with authority. But it has been a struggle offensively when he's gotten the reps.'
LeMahieu was hitting .266 with two homers, 12 RBIs and a .674 OPS. The three-time All-Star and two-time batting champion was hitting .310 in his last 31 games since June 1.
Boone said the Yankees have no plans to play LeMahieu at third at the moment because 'physically it's a challenge for him right now.'
He'll have some sort of role as a right-handed bat off the bench, and Boone was asked how LeMahieu took the news.
'Not great, necessarily. But that's kind of the situation we're in right now,' the manager said.
Leiter is 4-6 with a 4.46 ERA and two saves in 41 appearances covering 34 1/3 innings. He said he got injured covering first base June 24 in Cincinnati but had been pitching through the issue until it really became a problem this past weekend.
Tests revealed the stress fracture, and there was no timetable yet for the right-hander's return.
Luis Gil is expected to throw about 50 pitches and three innings during his first minor league rehab start Sunday. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year has been sidelined since spring training by a right lat strain.
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