Brand new Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. never shies away from the spotlight, so of course he weighed in on some early-season drama all the way in August. And no, this is not a criticism, so read on.
Back in June, The Athletic polled an anonymous group of players and asked them their general opinions on the game. Who’s the best player, worst organization, etc. Answers varied when it came to baseball’s most overrated player, but it was Chisholm and 20% of the vote leading the way.
“I didn’t really care,” Chisholm told Fox Sports’ Deesha Thosar. “Who cares what somebody else has to say about me? If he really voted that I’m overrated, that means you got something in your psyche, brother. Like me, I’m not going out and voting who’s an overrated player because I don’t even know who an overrated player is.
“I don’t look at people that hard. I only look at people who are good, I’m sorry. So you call me overrated, I gotta be good. That’s how I look at it.”
No matter what you think of him, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is right. If he’s overrated, he’s gotta be good! And the numbers don’t lie.
Chisholm debuted during the shortened 2020 season, and turned in an alright rookie year in 2021 when he hit .248 with 18 home runs despite a subpar 94 wRC+. Furthermore, Chisholm was performing well in each of the following two years, but only managed a combined 157 games due to injury.
It is really only this year in which we’re finally seeing Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s talent in full. He’s batting .255 with 20 home runs, 61 RBI, and 26 stolen bases in 2024, all career highs. As a Yankee, Chisholm has hit .296 with seven home runs and a 1.049 OPS in just 13 games.
In fairness to Chisholm, much of the “overrated” comments against him were in response to his being on the cover of MLB The Show 23. Understandable, considering that’s an honor usually reserved for perennial All-Stars, and Chisholm had only appeared in 60 games the year prior.
Except there’s a key difference. Chisholm is a top talent who had some early bad luck with injuries. Meanwhile, known juiced baseball merchant and Tigers infielder Javier Baez has gotten worse since gracing the cover himself in 2020.
Or what about former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who was on the cover in 2015 and was out of MLB before turning 30? Remember, Puig was a star international free agent out of Cuba.
Moving on, Jazz Chisholm Jr. isn’t one to let whispers in random polls like this bother him. He made clear he “definitely knew who they were talking to” and that the polling group was only “11 players.”
But as we’ve established, his performance speaks for itself. If he’s overrated, he’s at least good to start.
FOR FULL STORY ON STANDARD WEBSITE: Yankees 3B Jazz Chisholm Jr. addresses being named “most overrated” | Elite Sports NY