The New York Yankees are placing second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the injured list due to a sprained thumb, manager Aaron Boone told media on Wednesday afternoon (via SNY). Boone said that Chisholm will be shut down from baseball activities for the next seven to 10 days. Given that the season has roughly two and a half weeks left, this timeline pushes Chisholm's return to close to the playoffs.
The Yankees got a major boost to the roster on Tuesday with the return of three-time MVP Aaron Judge, making them look closer to full strength on offense, though they're still awaiting the returns of Trent Grisham and Giancarlo Stanton. Just one day later, Chisholm goes down and joins Stanton and Grisham on the IL.
Chisholm, 28, is hitting .232/.312/.403 (98 OPS+) with 19 homers, 40 steals and 1.5 WAR this season. With him on the shelf, José Caballero and Amed Rosario are candidates to fill in at second base.
The playoff implications of any Yankees injury at this point are significant. They currently hold the top American League wild-card spot, but would love to chase down the Rays to secure both the AL East title and the No. 1 seed in the entire American League, which would earn them a bye to the ALDS. They enter Wednesday trailing the Rays by four games. That sounds steep with only 18 to play, but keep in mind there's a four-game series in Yankee Stadium between the two ballclubs later this month.
As the playoff picture stands today, the Yankees are headed for a Wild Card Series against the division rival Boston Red Sox.
In the meantime, the Yankees will be hoping for returns in short order for Grisham, Stanton and Chisholm along with -- a bigger deal, frankly -- a return to form from Judge.
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