Yankees promote beleaguered infield prospect after Jazz Chisholm suffers obvious fate

When Yankees star Jazz Chisholm Jr. left Tuesday's win after one at-bat, suffering from discomfort in his "flank," everyone on planet earth knew that he'd eventually hit the injured list - especially when it was revealed that "flank" referred to his oblique.

After all, those are notoriously finicky. A major oblique strain can sideline a player for six-ish weeks. A minor one, even if it feels like just a tweak, will leave your swing interrupted and your body waylaid. You can't just "play through it". You'll make it worse.

The Yankees, operators of a notoriously thin infield, can't afford to lose Chisholm Jr. for very long (though, uh, now's probably the time to lose him, considering he's down to .181 on the year). After the initial injury, Chisholm Jr. was chipper, noting, "I’m really not as concerned as everybody else. I feel pretty good. I’ve torn my oblique before, so I know it’s not like torn or anything. I can cough without any pain or anything like that. It’s just to be cautious and not try to overdo it.”

"It's not torn or anything" isn't any great comfort, though, considering no one thought that was a possibility until he said it out loud. Alas, while an MRI likely didn't reveal a tear, it did reveal that everybody was correct to assume Chisholm Jr. would miss time with an oblique problem just like the rest of the world tends to.

Jorbit Vivas was promoted in his place on Friday morning, and Vivas had better get some real run this time.

Yankees lost Jazz Chisholm Jr. to 10-Day injured list, promote Jorbit Vivas after oblique injury

Someday, this roster spot may be occupied by DJ LeMahieu, who saw his rehab interrupted at an inopportune time by a preemptive cortisone shot in his hip. For now, it'll be Vivas, who was promoted once in 2024 and once earlier this season, without an at-bat for his troubles.

The Yankees' thin infield could stand to learn a thing or two about Vivas rather than leaning on Pablo Reyes. Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza should earn the lion's share of reps in the meantime, though the newcomer deserves to steal some of the spotlight.

Unfortunately, Chisholm Jr. won't be able to make any real progress towards climbing off the interstate until a few weeks from now, at the very earliest.