The New York Yankees have struggled since mid-June. While manager Aaron Boone and other players referred to it as “a little bit of a rough stretch,” it was still a month and a half of awful baseball. With that, the Yankees went from looking like World Series contenders early in the season to a team with numerous voids on the roster.
With the trade deadline approaching, the Yankees couldn’t afford to be complacent. So their first major move was to acquire Jazz Chisholm Jr., a second baseman and outfielder, from the Miami Marlins in exchange for three prospects, including catcher Agustin Ramirez. This gave the Yankees a much-needed jolt in their lineup. But one question remained: what position Chisholm would play upon arriving in the Bronx.
Boone supplied that answer, and it doesn’t make much sense. Chisholm will make his Yankees debut on Sunday night against the rival Boston Red Sox, playing center field and batting fifth in the order. Boone told reporters before the game that when Chisholm isn’t playing center field, he’ll play third base. Boone’s comments were provided by NJ Advance Media’s Max Goodman. However, Chisholm has never played third base in his whole MLB career.
Aaron Boone hopes to play Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third base, despite the fact that the former Marlin has never played the position before.
We can see why taking DJ LeMahieu out of the lineup by removing him from the third base equation makes sense. LeMahieu has struggled offensively and defensively this season (though Boone intends to give him some playing time at other infield positions). That, and the reluctance to play Gleyber Torres at third base. After all, Torres has been a defensive liability at second base, and his stint at shortstop is one Yankees fans would prefer to forget.
