ANAHEIM -- Jazz Chisholm Jr. is on the comeback trail, and when he does return, it may be at the hot corner.
Chisholm is scheduled to appear in a Minor League rehab game for Double-A Somerset on Thursday, at home against Akron. He will play third base in that contest, according to manager Aaron Boone, who said the club is considering using him there once activated.
"We’ll see,” Boone said. “I want him to work over there this week in his games over there. We’ll keep that flexibility and make a decision one way or the other.”
On the injured list since April 30 with a right oblique strain, Chisholm could be activated as soon as next week, Boone said. He played mostly third base after being acquired from the Marlins last July, even though it was a position he had never previously played as a professional.
While there were a few growing pains at the position, the Yankees were pleased with how Chisholm handled the challenge. In 45 starts there during the regular season, Chisholm committed seven errors in 400 1/3 innings, a .940 fielding percentage. Chisholm had a -2 defensive runs saved rating at third base, according to FanGraphs.
“In the end, I’m not even sure exactly how I want to go,” Boone said. “It could be an evolving situation.”
Once Gleyber Torres departed as a free agent, the Yankees moved Chisholm back to second base, which he considers a more natural position. He has played 196 games there in his career (185 starts) and even boasted this spring that he and shortstop Anthony Volpe would lead the Majors in double plays turned.
But the landscape has shifted since then. Opening Day third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera sustained a gruesome left ankle fracture on May 13 that required surgery, an injury that is likely season-ending.
Oswald Peraza has been drawing the majority of starts at third base since Cabrera’s injury; while Peraza has made several highlight-reel defensive plays, he was batting .165 (13-for-79) with three homers and 10 RBIs in 34 games entering Wednesday’s series finale at Anaheim.
If Chisholm plays third, it would largely be to accommodate DJ LeMahieu, who has shown flashes of a long-awaited healthy resurgence in his age-36 season. Overall, LeMahieu entered play Wednesday batting .206 (7-for-34) with a homer and three RBIs in 11 games.
Boone said Chisholm has been “awesome” about the idea of moving back to third base.