Chisholm shows his elite skills in jump-starting Marlins rally
Jazz Chisholm Jr. was quick to admit he was amped-up Monday.
Maybe a little too amped-up at the start.
Chisholm was facing the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team that signed him as an international free agent in 2015, for the first time since he was traded to the Marlins in July 2019. He was facing Zac Gallen, the pitcher the Diamondbacks acquired in that trade, for the first time. He wanted to make a statement. He wanted to get the big hit.
His first three at-bats of the 5-4 loss, all against Gallen: A high flyout to center field on a fastball near the top of the zone, a flyout to right in the third and a ground ball to second base in the sixth on a cutter near the middle of the zone. He broke two bats in the span of those three trips to the plate, and had to use one of Jorge Soler’s the rest of the game.
“Got myself out all night,” Chisholm said, “just trying to hit homers.”
Well, not all night. Chisholm eventually relaxed and nearly sparked the Marlins to a comeback in his final two plate appearances by flashing his power, speed and aggressiveness — a combination that matched with his swagger and flashy personality has him on the fast-track to becoming one of MLB’s next superstars.
It began in the seventh inning, when he walked to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded after three Marlins batters were hit by pitches — Avisail Garcia and Garrett Cooper by Gallen, Jacob Stallings by reliever Noe Ramirez.
Chisholm took the first two pitches for a 1-1 count, and fouled off the next three offerings before he drilled a 90.4 mph fastball on the outer edge of the strike zone to the wall in right-center for a two-run double. The ball had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph off the bat — Chisholm’s hardest-hit ball in play of the season and the ninth hardest-hit ball of his MLB career.
“It was a big spot, and it was a chance for us to get back in the game,” Chisholm said. “I was telling myself to lock in and don’t let it get away from me.”
One at-bat later he showcased his speed. With the Diamondbacks infield playing back,
Jesus Aguilar chopped a groundball to the left side. Shortstop Nick
Ahmed raced to his left and made an off-balance throw to first base on the run trying to get the inning-ending out. Chisholm knew he was rounding third base the entire time as soon as Ahmed made the throw. Aguilar was safe. Stallings had already scored and Chisholm slid headfirst into home well ahead of the throw to cut Miami’s deficit to one run.
Chisholm had a maximum sprint speed of 30.6 feet per second — 30 is considered elite — on the run from second to home.
“Only guys that kind of run like that can make those kinds of plays,” Marlins manager Don
Mattingly said. “And really guys that run like that seem to understand that they can do that. Probably not many other guys in the game that make that play.”
And then in the ninth, he showed his desire to win.
With two outs in the ninth and the tying run on first, the Diamondbacks pitched around Chisholm with a fourpitch walk. He was expecting that. But it also meant he was three bases from scoring the gamewinning run.
Jon Berti worked the count full on the next at-bat. Chisholm took an early jump before the final pitch — an attempt to make sure he would score if the ball was put in play. Berti hit a high pop up that went above the pitcher’s mound.
“If this drops,” Chisholm said, “we’re scoring.”
Ahmed and first baseman Christian Walker nearly collided as both attempted to make the play on the ball. Chisholm was already halfway around third base when the game-ending out was recorded.
“That was just my mindset,” Chisholm said, “to score any way I could.”
Chisholm entered Tuesday leading the Marlins in slugging (.661), home runs (four), triples (three), RBI (17), stolen bases (four) and was tied for the team lead in runs scored (10).
According to Statcast, he ranks in the 97th percentile in the league in average sprint speed and 70th in average exit velocity.
“Jazz is gonna be a great player,” Mattingly said. “Just continue to work and stay with it. He’s exciting. He’s a guy that fans love. The energy he plays with and things that happen on the field, he’s just one of those guys that people like to watch play.
“So yeah, he’s got a chance to be really, really good.”