Chisholm ends first full season strong

A home run and a six-RBI weekend highlighted the contributions from Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr. as he ended his first full season in the majors.

The Bahamian professional baseball player with the Miami Marlins ended the season hitting .248 with 18 home runs, 53 RBIs (runs batted in) and 70 runs scored. A 1-for-4 afternoon with a RBI at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, yesterday, helped his team earn a hard-fought 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, clinching the weekend series two games to one.

The Marlins finished with a 67-95 win/loss record in the National League East Division of Major League Baseball (MLB), about 21 games out of playoff position – a year after being the Cinderella team of the league, making the playoffs in a shortened 60-game season and advancing to the National League Divisional Series before falling to the Atlanta Braves.

Chisholm missed time due to injury three times in 2021, but still bounced back to be among the club leaders in a number of offensive categories. He finished with 115 hits in 464 at-bats this season, which was inclusive of 18 home runs, four triples and 20 doubles – top three on the club in all.

Chisholm had an on-base percentage of .303, a slugging percentage of .425 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .728. He also stole 23 bases in 31 attempts, and was just two home runs short of a 20-20 season.

On Saturday, Chisholm drove in all three runs for the Marlins in a 3-1 win over the Phillies on Mexican Heritage Celebration Day at the park. The 23-year-old Bahamian infielder blasted a three-run shot to right field in the bottom of the third to give the Marlins a 3-0 lead over the Phillies. That was more than enough run support for them as starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo yielded just one run in five and a third innings, and three relievers pitched three and two third innings of two-hit ball.

On Chisholm’s home run, he took a 1-0 pitch, a 85.4 miles per hour (mph) changeup from Phillies’ losing pitcher Hans Crouse and deposited it to the seats in right field. For Chisholm, it was his first home run since knocking out two against the Washington Nationals two weeks ago.

The Bahamian major leaguer hit safely in his last three games of the season and four of his last five. He hit just .161 in limited plate appearances in a shortened season due to the threat of COVID-19  year ago, and showed significant improvement this season by taking his batting average up 

nearly 100 points.

Defensively, Chisholm ended the season with a .959 fielding percentage at second base and a .925 fielding percentage at shortstop. He had 166 combined putouts, 286 assists and was a part of 77 double plays while committing just 24 errors. He started 87 games at second base and 31 at shortstop.

The Bahamian is expected to enter his third season in the majors as the starting second baseman of the Marlins.

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