BALTIMORE -- More than a year ago, Jazz Chisholm Jr. stared out the back window of a car in Boston traffic, watching the clock tick toward first pitch. A locker waited in a new clubhouse, and after a tumultuous beginning to his career, the idea of a fresh start held real appeal.
The Yankees organization provided an opportunity, Chisholm believes, that has helped him to reach new heights. The infielder joined a select group on Friday, belting his 30th home run and becoming just the third Bomber to produce a 30-30 season in the club's 4-2 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards.
“I feel like it’s boosted my career, 100%, in different ways,” Chisholm said. “The winning mentality, the winning atmosphere, the way everybody in the front office to the training staff wants to win. This is how I felt like I grew up playing baseball, and what I needed to be around to be even more successful.”
Chisholm has said that the 30-30 tag would be more meaningful if it helps the Yankees overtake the Blue Jays in the American League East race; alas, his long ball represented the club’s only offensive strike, having been held to one hit over six scoreless innings by left-hander Trevor Rogers. The Yanks remain three games behind the Blue Jays, who lost 20-1 to the Royals.
“We’re working to shake hands and put ourselves in the best possible position down the stretch,” said manager Aaron Boone. “It’s a tough one tonight.”
The Yankees have boasted a number of players with unique blends of power and speed, but 30-30 has been a rare number in franchise history. Bobby Bonds was the first to achieve it, doing so in 1975, his only season with the club.
It took nearly three decades for another player to match Bonds’ feat. Alfonso Soriano reached 30-30 in back-to-back seasons in 2002 and ’03. That began another two-decade wait, one that concluded Friday with Chisholm powering a Dietrich Enns cutter over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.
“Thirty-thirty invokes a lot of things, and it certainly lines up with his skill set,” Boone said. “I think that he’s moving the needle and getting better as a player.”
With Chisholm (30), Aaron Judge (48) and Trent Grisham (33), the Yankees joined the A’s (Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers and Brent Rooker) as the Majors’ only clubs to have three players with at least 30 homers.
“I wish it would have come with a win today, but it’s great,” Chisholm said.
Acquired from the Marlins last July ahead of the Trade Deadline, Chisholm has earned his pinstripes as a Yankees sparkplug.
Named to his second All-Star team this season (and his first as an American Leaguer), Chisholm is just the Majors’ second 30-30 player so far this season, joining former teammate Juan Soto of the Mets.
It’s notable that the accomplishment came in a season that saw Chisholm lose 28 games to a high-grade oblique strain beginning in late April, while also going 39 games without a successful stolen base attempt due to a nagging groin injury.
That prompts Chisholm’s belief that this campaign simply scratches the surface of his potential: Given better health, he believes 40-40 is within reach -- something no Yankee has ever done.
“I think I’ve been saying that from when I was a rookie,” Chisholm said.
Chisholm’s trademark bluster and flair seemed dulled by the defeat, coming on a night the Yankees were silenced by Rogers -- a good test of the caliber of hurler they’ll be challenged to topple in October.
Rogers’ 1.43 ERA and 0.3 home runs per nine innings were both the best marks in the Majors entering Friday (minimum 100 innings), but the Yankees crush lefties, coming in with an MLB-best .790 OPS vs. southpaws.
On this night, Rogers claimed the upper hand, holding New York hitless into the sixth. Left fielder Dylan Beavers made a couple of sharp defensive plays in that frame, robbing Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge.
“We didn't pressure him a lot,” Boone said of Rogers. “We ran his count up. We made him work. We obviously had a hard time mounting much against him.”
Ryan Mountcastle hit a second-inning homer off Yanks rookie Will Warren, who held the line there until a pair of errors opened the sixth.
Warren flubbed a Jordan Westburg broken-bat grounder back to the mound and Chisholm attempted a shovel toss to first base on a Gunnar Henderson grounder; both runners reached, and both came around to score.
An infield hit and Henderson’s run-scoring double down the left-field line off Tim Hill in the seventh provided insurance. The Yanks left two on in the eighth and went down quietly in the ninth, with Chisholm fanning against Keegan Akin for the final out.
“It’s kind of upsetting not to get the ‘W’ tonight to come closer to the Blue Jays,” Chisholm said. “That’s all we’re thinking about right now, winning the division.”