When the Yankees acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the Marlins last summer, they wanted to pair him with Anthony Volpe in the middle of their infield.
That never materialized, as Gleyber Torres made it known that he did not want to move from second to third, a position the impending free agent had tried but didn’t care for in the minors. Following the trade, Torres stated that he is a second baseman, and Chisholm ultimately moved to third, a position he had never played before.
“I acquired Jazz to be our second baseman and move Gleyber to third the rest of last year,” Brian Cashman said over the winter. “[Aaron Boone] wanted to do it the other way. He moved Jazz to third after we got him and kept Gleyber at second because Gleyber didn’t want to move to third and was unwilling.”
Now Torres is with the Tigers, where he will man his longtime position. The Yankees’ current plan is to put Chisholm at second, the spot he played most at the onset of his career.
A minor league shortstop, Chisholm is expected to team up with a Gold Glove-winning one in Volpe. With the two speedsters capable of covering lots of ground, the Yankees have high hopes for their middle infield defense.
“I think he’s got a chance to be really dynamic in the middle with Anthony,” Boone said of Chisholm.
Volpe said that working with his new double play partner has been “amazing” thus far. The two recently put on a show while doing defensive drills on a backfield at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Chisholm’s session even reminded Volpe of a Yankees second baseman he grew up watching.
“He wants to make the Robinson Canó play, and he can,” Volpe said. “It looks really good, so it’s really exciting to see what he’s capable of.”
While the Yankees publicly defended Torres’ defense last season, he led all second basemen with 18 errors. He was also second-worst in Defensive Runs Saved (-11) and third-worst in Outs Above Average (-7), Range (-5) and Fielding Run Value (-5) at his position.
Torres especially struggled moving toward first base and back. Chisholm, meanwhile, graded well moving toward first as a third baseman.
Metrics have approved Chisholm’s defense at second base (7 DRS, 8 OAA, 6 Range, 6 FRV) over the years. However, he has not been a full-time second baseman since 2022, as Miami also experimented with him in center field.
With that in mind, Volpe knows the two will have to be in “constant communication” as Chisholm reacclimates.
“He’s super excited and so athletic and has so much range,” Volpe said while also praising Chisholm’s arm. “The more we can play with each other throughout the spring, the better. Just ironing out positioning, talking and really not trying to overstep each other. Those are all really good problems, but stuff we’re gonna have to work on.”
It wasn’t uncommon for Chisholm to step into Volpe’s territory while playing third last year when the two were learning to play with one another on the fly. Working together this spring should help minimize such instances.
Boone said the Yankees considered leaving Chisholm at third — where metrics were more favorable than the eye test — though that hinged on how their offseason unfolded. That possibility still exists should the Yankees make additional moves this spring, but the club is currently looking at DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas for third base.
Boone doesn’t “want to get into bouncing [Chisholm] back and forth,” though that’s not to say he isn’t capable should he need to switch back.
“If something declares itself in a certain way, or depending how the roster shakes out, I do want to keep it open that I could move [Chisholm] over [to third],” the manager said. “I feel like he’s got a chance to be elite at either position.”