Jazz Chisholm on possible return to Bronx: 'I love it as a Yankee.'
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the bench in the 2nd inning of ALDS Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 7, 2026. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Only time will tell for certain if the Yankees’ 4-3 season-ending loss to the Rays in Game 3 of the AL Division Series will be the last one Jazz Chisholm Jr. plays in the pinstripes. If it proves to be, things didn’t end well and we aren’t talking about the final score.
Manager Aaron Boone decided to replace Chisholm as the starting second baseman with Anthony Volpe. Though Boone said he was strongly considering it after Monday’s Game 2 loss, it didn’t become a solid determination until Tuesday. And Chisholm said he expected to start when he got to the Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Asked how he found out that he was out, Chisholm replied, “I saw the lineup card.”
And he did not sound happy about getting blindsided.
“I always prefer a conversation,” he said. “I would like to know what I'm walking into.”
Chisholm didn’t have a hit in the first two games, was charged with an error in Game 2 and also made a bad throw for a forceout at second in the game that shortstop George Lombard Jr. managed to corral.
This is the final year of his contract. With Volpe now playing second base, the Yankees won’t necessarily issue him a $23 million qualifying offer. But he said he wants to return for next season.
“I love it as a Yankee,” he said. “I grew up as a Yankee fan, being from the Bahamas, watching (Derek) Jeter and those guys every day. It was a great time being a Yankee. I love my time as a Yankee. I had great years with the Yankees, had an All-Star year, had a Silver Slugger year. Who doesn't want to stay with a team that you've had such great times with and great years with? To see it maybe end here sucks, but you know, it's part of the business.”
Chisholm came into the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and went 0-for-2 in a pair of turns at bat, grounding into a force out with a man on and one out in the ninth.
And he heard plenty of boos from the Yankees fans on Wednesday night.
“It's just confusing because it's the playoffs and we're trying to win games,” he said. “So you're booing a guy that's playing currently, trying to help the team win? And you're hearing boos instead of trying to hype guys up? (But) it didn't hurt me because I've seen Aaron Judge get booed here, too.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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