The New York Yankees were hoping they'd dodged a bullet after Jazz Chisholm Jr. left Tuesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles with an oblique injury. This was partly wishful thinking ā thin in the infield already, Chisholm Jr. is one of the players not named Aaron Judge the team could least afford to lose ā and partly because Chisholm Jr. himself didn't seem all that worried.
"Iām really not as concerned as everybody else,ā he told The New York Post. āI feel pretty good. Iāve torn my oblique before so I know itās not torn or anything. I can cough without any pain. It was just to be cautious not to try to overdo it."
But it turns out concern was the appropriate response: Further testing has diagnosed Chisholm Jr. with what manager Aaron Boone deemed a "high-grade strain" of his oblique, one that will keep him on the shelf for an extended period of time.
Boone pegged his timeline at 4-6 weeks, although it's worth noting that high-grade oblique strains in the past have held players out for as long as a couple of months. No matter which end of that spectrum Chisholm Jr. winds up on, he's going to be out for a while ā and that should have Yankees fans everywhere pressing the panic button.
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Yankees need Brian Cashman to get creative as Jazz Chisholm Jr. injury situation gets worse
The infield was a sore spot for New York even with Chisholm Jr. healthy; GM Brian Cashman steadfastly refused to find an upgrade over his uninspiring internal options at third base this winter, and the lo and behold, the trio of DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza have been either injured or underwhelming so far.
Now there's a whole other hole to fill, and New York didn't even have enough depth to adequately address the first one. All of which means only one thing: It's time for Cashman to finally try something. If this were more of a short-term deal, the Yankees would likely try and stay above water with prospect Jorbit Vivas holding down second base. And maybe he'll take the job and run with it, making this all a moot point ā he has hit well at Triple-A so far this year.
But New York needs to plan as though that won't happen. Vivas has never been regarded as a top-flight prospect, and he'll be trying to adjust to the Majors on the fly; expecting anything more than solid defense and below-average offense is irresponsible. Granted, it's early May, and the options on the middle-infield market are slim. Still, more bodies are better than fewer: Maybe the Colorado Rockies are willing to part with Kyle Farmer, or the Pirates are willing to facilitate an Isiah Kiner-Falefa reunion, anything to try and keep the ship afloat before the trade deadline arrives.