Home|Uncategorized|Marlins shuts down ‘Jazz’ for seasonSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 12, 2022 469 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian professional baseball player Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr. has been ruled out for the season with a stress fracture in his back. Miami Marlins General Manager Kim Ng confirmed the news on Saturday.
It is disappointing turn of events for the second baseman, who was having an impressive season for the Marlins. He has not played since June 28 and had no timetable to return to the diamond. He did a CT scan on July 21 and that is when the stress fracture in his lower back was discovered. Chisholm was set to return to the lineup in six weeks later, which was earlier this month.
Marlins Manager Don Mattingly said the team thought it could probably push Jazz to come back and play designated hitter.
“I think the risk/reward on that – he has a stress fracture in his back. It’s something you could say, ‘well, it’s healed, but is it all the way?’ It just doesn’t seem to be worth it,” Mattingly said. “I think Jazz would like to play, he would like to have played. I think the organization basically made that decision for him, that we were going to just let this thing go, keep strengthening all year long, so we know going into the winter that he’s healthy, he’s ready, he’s doing everything, he feels great. So again, I think it’s an organizational decision.”
Chisholm was having a phenomenal year for the Marlins, batting .254 with 14 home runs, 45 RBIs (runs batted in) and 39 runs scored. He was among the league leaders as second basemen in several offensive statistics and was a pillar of stability defensively for the Marlins.
He also recorded 12 stolen bases. Chisholm has an on-base percentage (OBP) of .325 and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .860.
Chisholm was named as a starter to the National League team for the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star classic on July 19. He was forced to miss that game because of the injury, but was able to attend the other All-Star Game festivities. He was the sixth Marlin to be voted by the fans in that game as a starter.
Defensively, Chisholm has 93 putouts and 123 assists in 220 total chances this season. He has helped turn 21 double plays and has a fielding percentage of .982.
Mattingly thinks that they took the precaution route.
“I think [Jazz] thinks he could have played two weeks ago, probably,” Mattingly said. “I think this is more about, let’s make 100 percent sure there’s no reason to even be on the limits of this. I think it’s more of a medical thing for Jazz, knowing that this guy’s pretty natural at what he does. It’s not like he had to play these games to prove to himself he was going to be okay next year. I think he already thinks he’s going to be okay next year.”
The Marlins sport a 57-81 win/loss record on the season, sitting at the bottom of the NL, they are well on their way to miss the playoffs for a second straight year. They could have certainly use Chisholm’s offense and energy.
Chisholm is widely regarded as the Marlins’ best player and one of the game’s most exciting young talents. He is the first Bahamian to be selected to an all-star appearance in the MLB.