Chisholm leads off for the first time

Bahamian professional baseball player with the Miami Marlins Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm got his first assignment as a lead-off batter in Major League Baseball (MLB) yesterday, and the 23-year-old infielder produced as he connected for hits in his first two at-bats and finished 2-for-4 on the afternoon.

For Chisholm, it’s already his fifth multi-hit game of the season, raising his team leading batting average to .326. After his first two at-bats, he was at .341. He has now his safely in eight of his last nine games and is leading the Marlins in a number of offensive stats.

Behind timely hits and a strong pitching effort from lefty Trevor Rogers, the Marlins blanked the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, yesterday, raising their win/loss record to 8-9 on the season. They are now just a half game behind the second-place Philadelphia Phillies (9-9) and one and a half games behind the New York Mets who lead the National League East Division with a 7-5 record.

Chisholm and the Marlins split the mini two-game series with the Orioles, and now travel to the Bay Area to play fellow Bahamian Antoan Richardson and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, in a four-game series this weekend. Richardson is a first base coach with the Giants.

Proving that he could produce from the lead-off position, Chisholm finished 2-for-4 with a stolen base yesterday, and now leads all MLB second basemen with a 1.069 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).

In his first at-bat, Chisholm greeted Orioles’ starting pitcher Bruce Zimmermann by taking the first pitch he saw, an 88.9 miles per hour (mph) four-seam fastball, and drilling it to right field for a single. He was left stranded as Zimmermann retired three of the next four batters.

In his second at-bat in the bottom of the third, Chisholm took an 83.8mph slider to left field for his second hit of the afternoon off Zimmermann, another single. He stole second, but Zimmermann retired three in a row to end the threat.

Chisholm struck out swinging in his third at-bat in the bottom of the fifth, and struck out on a foul tip in the bottom of the seventh.

In the field, Chisholm had one putout and four assists, and now has 16 putouts and 43 assists on the season. He has just two errors and was a part of 10 double plays – nine at second base and one at shortstop.

In addition to batting average, Chisholm leads the Marlins in stolen bases (four), 

onbase percentage (OBP) – .439, slugging percentage (SLG) – .630 and OPS – 1.069. He is tied for the team lead in bases on balls (nine), second in home runs (three), in a three-way tie for third in runs scored (eight), fourth in hits with 15 and tied for fifth in RBIs (runs batted in) with six.

For the season, Chisholm is batting .326 (15-for-46) with three home runs, six RBIs and eight runs scored.

Regarded as one of baseball’s finest young stars, Chisholm is top 10 in the majors in OBP, SLG, OPS and stolen bases.

Rogers got the win for the Marlins yesterday, giving up just four hits and striking out eight in seven innings. He has both victories for Miami starting pitchers this year, and opened both shutouts on the season. Zimmermann suffered the loss.

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