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Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Jazz receives his major league call-up

According to reports, Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm received a major league call-up yesterday, becoming just the seventh Bahamian in history to receive the promotion to the majors.

MLB Pipeline tweeted: “The #Marlins are reportedly calling up Jazz Chisholm, MLB’s No. 60 overall prospect.” The 22-year-old Bahamian is actually the number four prospect of the Marlins and number 70 in all of baseball.

He could certainly shore up the middle of a Miami Marlins defense that took a hit with a deadline deal on Monday. The Marlins traded away steady shortstop Jonathan Villar to the Toronto Blue Jays at the deadline – their opponent last night.

Villar, who led the majors in stolen bases in 2016 and is a career .261 hitter, started at second baseman and shortstop for the Marlins this season, playing in all 30 games. The 29-year-old is hitting .259 this season with two home-runs and nine RBIs, and is once again leading the majors in stolen bases.

Chisholm comes with a lot of speed also, can hit for power and average and is a steady defensive infielder. For two teams in the minors last year, he batted .220 with 21 home-runs and 54 RBIs while stealing 16 bases in 20 attempts. He had a career-high .955 fielding percentage, with 131 putouts, 249 assists and was a part of 48 double plays. Chisholm only had 18 errors in 943.1 innings, and is regarded as a defensive minded shortstop with deceptive power. He is a career .255 hitter in the minors with 56 home-runs and 173 RBIs in four seasons.

Many speculate that the Marlins’ main reason for trading Villar was because infielder Isan Díaz has been cleared to return to the team after electing not to play the rest of the 2020 season at the beginning of August. The 24-year-old was Miami’s opening day second baseman but played just two games in their first series against the Philadelphia Phillies before informing the team that he was electing not to play due to health concerns and family reasons. At the time, the Marlins were isolating in Philadelphia following multiple positive COVID-19 tests.

As for Chisholm, he was reportedly on the active roster for the Marlins last night and available off the bench. The Marlins recalled him from their alternate training site at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, on Tuesday, and optioned outfielder Jesús Sánchez to that same site.

Halfway through a COVID-19-shortened season, the Marlins are right in the midst of a playoff push with a balanced 15-15 win/loss record, and the talented Bahamian could provide a major boost. As mentioned, he would be the seventh Bahamian to be called up to the majors, following in the footsteps of Andre Rodgers who was the pacesetter with the New York Giants, now San Francisco Giants, in 1957; Anthony “Tony” Curry with the Phillies in 1960; two-time World Series Champion Ed Armbrister with the Cincinnati Reds in 1973; Wenty Ford with the Atlanta Braves in 1973; Wilfred “Sudgy” Culmer with the Cleveland Indians in 1983; and finally Antoan Richardson with the Atlanta Braves in 2011.

Earlier this season, the Marlins experienced a significant new coronavirus outbreak in which as least 13 members of their travelling party tested positive, a number of whom were players. As a result, their opening home series against the Baltimore Orioles was postponed. Initially it was speculated that Chisholm would be called up during that time, but the Marlins endured a number of postponements and eventually they recovered.

Chisholm has been on the Marlins’ 60-man player pool all season, making him eligible to be called up to the majors at any point. 

Chisholm signed out of the international signing class with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015, spent four seasons with that organization and was dealt to the Marlins in July of 2019. He is a former Diamondbacks minor league player of the year and has been invited to the last two spring trainings – one with the Diamondbacks and the other with the Marlins.

As mentioned, the Marlins are right in the midst of a playoff push. With a .500 record going into last night’s game against the Blue Jays, they are tied for the final wild card spot in the National League. They are having a peculiar season, starting off with the many postponed games because of COVID-19, won five in a row following their resumption of play and then lost eight out of 10 before winning five out of seven. They have won just one time in nine tries at home, out of Marlins Park in Miami, Florida, and have a 14-7 record away from home.

The Marlins are coming off an impressive one-day outing in New York where they defeated two-time National League Cy Young Award Winner Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets. They faced the Blue Jays last night but the result of that game was unavailable up to press time.

Chisholm and the Marlins will host the Blue Jays again tonight. They will travel to Tampa to face the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game set on the weekend.



source https://thenassauguardian.com/jazz-receives-his-major-league-call-up/

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