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Jazz Chisolm, Jr. is usually a pretty solid infielder. During Monday’s New York Yankees loss to the Cleveland Guardians, however, the second baseman allowed an easy base hit when he turned his back on the ball to avoid a broken bat.
The play happened during the fourth inning of the game when Guardians infielder Brayan Rocchio got jammed on a pitch, splitting his bat, and sending a large shard into the air in Jazz Chisolm, Jr.’s general direction. As it turned out, the large piece of the bat didn’t really come anywhere close to Chisolm. Making matters even worse, with the ball bouncing to the outfield, Cleveland was able to score a run en route to a 6-4 victory.
¿¿¿¿Jazz Chisholm???? pic.twitter.com/oAfuxMz1VO
— EL TIO POLO (@picksdepolo) April 21, 2025
Jazz Chisolm, Jr. did end up hitting a two-run homer in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough to get the Yankees a win. After the game, he was asked about the broken bat play.
“That’s a tough one,” the New York Post reports he said. “I want to make every play out there for my guy, but at the same time, you don’t want to die. You got a sharp object coming your way. I’ve seen guys get stabbed with broken bats in person, so I know how bad the injury can be. The toughest thing to do as a baseball player right now is to stay on the field. So at the same time, we got to protect ourselves when we’re playing out there, especially when stuff like that is happening.”
Chisholm had been hit in the calf by a broken bat when he was playing shortstop at High-A. “That’s why I’m a little bit more cautious about going after balls when the bat’s in the same lane,” he said.