Home|Sports|‘Jazz’ blasts first home run of the springSports
‘Jazz’ blasts first home run of the spring
Sheldon LongleySend an emailMarch 7, 2023 168 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
After a relatively slow start to 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) Spring Training, Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr. proved that he is back to full strength, or near to it, recovering from a back injury that hampered him the latter part of last season.
The Bahamian superstar player had his first multi-hit game of the spring on Friday, including a towering home run to left center field, putting the Miami Marlins on the scoreboard in that game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Marlins went on to lose the game, 8-3, and have won just one game against eight losses in Spring Training, but there is little doubt that the electrifying, charismatic center fielder for the marlins is back.
Chisholm finished 2-for-3 in that game against the Cardinals on Friday, with a RBI (run batted in) and a run scored. For the spring, he is batting .308 with a home-run, two RBIs and a run scored. He has four hits in 13 at-bats.
Chisholm suffered a stress fracture in his lower back last season, forcing him to shut it down after 60 of the team’s 162 games. He missed the Midsummer’s Classic (all-star game) after becoming the first Bahamian ever to be voted into the game, and also the first to be voted as a starter. He was set to be the starting second baseman of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.
Chisholm and the Marlins will open the 2023 season at home, loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, against the New York Mets. They will host the Mets for four games and then host the Minnesota Twins for three games.
Switching from the infield to man center field for the Marlins this season, Chisholm took it in stride, saying he is intrigued by the move. Speed certainly plays a factor as it believed that Chisholm could cover a lot of ground in centerfield. Chisholm was the Marlins’ every day starter at second base in 2022, and has started at shortstop in the past, but after the Marlins acquired reigning American League Batting Champion and all-star infielder Luis Arraez from the Minnesota Twins, they decided to experiment with Chisholm in center field. Newcomer Jean Segura and Joey Wendle are expected to cover the left side of the infield for the Marlins.
“Jazz is a very unique athlete, very dynamic,” said Marlins’ General Manager Kim Ng to Paige Leckie of MLB.com. “He’s got great range, great speed. He’s got a lot of the things that you look for when you’re thinking about center field. We’ve seen how he handles popups, and how he ranges to the ones that are really tough to get to.”
Chisholm was having a breakout second full season with the Marlins before getting injured. As mentioned, he was voted into the all-star game as a starter but couldn’t play due to injury.
Last year, Chisholm had a batting average of .254 with 14 home runs, 45 RBIs and 39 runs scored in 60 games. He had 12 stolen bases, finished with an on-base percentage (OBP) of .325 and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .860.
This season the Bahamian professional baseball player is looking for improved numbers across the board.
The Marlins 2023 Spring Training continues with an afternoon game against the Washington Nationals today. That game will get underway at 1:10 p.m. at the Marlins Spring Training facility – Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.