Jazz Chisholm Jr. was out of the Yankees starting lineup for Game 162, but he appears to be a go for the playoffs Tuesday.
A day after the second baseman took a 97 mph sinker off the left forearm, forcing him to exit Saturday’s win over the Orioles in the fifth inning, Chisholm was still experiencing some swelling and soreness that kept him on the bench to start the game.
But he pinch hit in the seventh inning, striking out, and played the final two innings in the field.
“I should be good,” Chisholm said before Sunday’s 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium.
Chisholm underwent X-rays and a CT scan Saturday, all of which came back negative.
“I think he’s pretty good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “A little sore, but nothing too serious I don’t think.”
José Caballero started at second base for Chisholm, who finished the year with 31 home runs and 31 steals and should be back in the lineup Tuesday against the Red Sox.
Ben Rice finished the season in style with a pair of home runs that gave him 26 on the season.
The catcher/first baseman hit .304 with a .943 OPS over his final 44 games.
He hit a huge grand slam in Baltimore last Sunday to cap off a series before his big day Sunday.
“Really since the game before he hit the grand slam and [four] hits against Baltimore in Baltimore, he didn’t have a great game swinging the bat, made some adjustments,” Boone said. “Since that point, this last week or so of games, it’s been a lot of really great at-bats, more loud contact.
“Benny Barrels has been doing his thing. He’s in a great place going in. Obviously, he’s going to play a big role for us.”
Rice said the adjustment had to do with letting the ball travel farther before getting off his swing.
Caballero, whose goal has been to steal 50 bases, stole his 49th bag of the season in the fifth inning, but then was picked off of second base by lefty reliever Keegan Akin for the first out, with Rice at the plate.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
