Jazz Chisholm takes shot at Marlins, hints at another gear for Yankees in playoffs

There was a moment in mid-August, just a few weeks after his acquisition, when it seemed as if the Yankees had squeezed all the energy and effortless pop there was to squeeze out of Jazz Chisholm in 2024.

Added at the trade deadline to help improve the Yankees' athleticism, Chisholm went a tick or two too hard against the moribund Chicago White Sox, flying between third and home and injuring his elbow, all to score a single run that ended up on the wrong side of a blowout. The injury progressed in the way that Yankee fans have grown accustomed to: from a dugout video of Chisholm "shaking it out," to postgame optimism without justification, to the next night's news (UCL damage, stay tuned).

But this time, the lucky 10% fell in the Yankees' column. Chisholm insisted that he just might be fine, and he actually was. Just a couple of days after the initial impact, he was back on the field, testing out his non-throwing arm while keeping the other one warm. What looked, sounded, and developed like a season-ending injury stole only an 11-day gap from Chisholm; he went down on Aug. 12, and returned before Old-Timers' Day.

From that moment on, it's felt as if Chisholm was sitting, waiting, and straining for theOctober spotlight. If he was to be given a second chance, he clearly intended to make the most of it, even if his 72 OPS+ in September didn't match his 134 mark in August.

Chisholm might not be a consistently elite talent and one of the game's preeminent megastars, but he gives the Yankees a healthy dose of adaptability and panache, which they've long lacked. And he intends to level up in the Bronx this autumn, after being given a reprieve from both his own injury woes and the baseball community in Miami.

Yankees' Jazz Chisholm ready for MLB Playoffs buzz

In Miami, Chisholm was the kind of guy who flashed and appealed to a younger generation, but received scorn from veterans who didn't believe he deserved the accolades he was receiving.

Those veterans, with an unearned sense of what it means to "earn" something in the first place, will get another chance this week to watch Chisholm get enlivened by a packed house this postseason.

It's not Miami's fault that packing the park doesn't feel like a valued use of the city's time; the Marlins' latest offseason gutting, with Skip Schumaker, Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and others being shot out of Peter Bendix's cannon, is just the latest of many examples of that organization not loving them back.

While Chisholm surely has love for the city from whence he came, his efforts can now contribute to a collective cause. That might mean the return of the guy Yankee fans fell in love with in early August, before the ill-advised Chicago steal and scare that almost ended his resurgence on the spot.