Jazz Chisholm Jr. was back at second base for the Yankees in Tuesday night's lineup, with DJ LeMahieu on the bench against the Seattle Mariners.
NEW YORK – A curious and arguably counterproductive Yankees alignment ended Tuesday, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. was returned to second base.
In the immediate fallout, veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu is without a defined role, and the Yankees are clearly searching for third base upgrades before the July 31 MLB trade deadline.
The .154-hitting Oswald Peraza started at third base in Tuesday night’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners, with LeMahieu on the bench.
“It’s Peraza (Tuesday night) and we’ll see,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of his third base spot.
DJ LeMahieu's uncertain status with Yankees
LeMahieu isn’t currently a candidate to play third and he took the news of this change “not great, necessarily,’’ Boone said Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. “But it’s kind of the situation we’re in right now.’’
According to Boone, the idea of simply switching LeMahieu to third base is complicated because, “I think physically, it’s a challenge for him right now.
“So right now, no plans of doing that, but we’ll see,’’ said Boone, somewhat cryptically adding that LeMahieu is “a bat off the bench’’ and “we’ll see how the days unfold’’ as to his status.
LeMahieu, who was not available for comment prior to Tuesday’s game, turns 37 next week and has a guaranteed contract through 2026 that pays $15 million annually.
At the plate, the former two-time MLB batting champ LeMahieu was batting .310 (27-for-87) over his last 31 games since June 1, with a .754 OPS.
LeMahieu was slotted back to his natural second base position once he came off the injured list (calf strain) in May, with Chisholm on the IL (oblique strain), costing him all of May.
Upon his return in early June, Chisholm was moved to third – a position he learned on the job, after being acquired from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline.
Having accommodated both Gleyber Torres and LeMahieu at second base, Chisholm is now back at his natural position – following a rough go at third base, including some erratic throws.
“It’s fluid just with our situation right now, but I want to get him back there and playing and take advantage of his athleticism there,’’ Boone said of Chisholm, nursing a right shoulder problem for the past three weeks.
“We still don’t know for sure. I still don’t know,’’ Chisholm said of remaining at second base for the balance of 2025.
“I’m just out there doing what I’ve got to do,’’ said Chisholm, adding that, “I always prefer to stay at one spot’’ defensively.
Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. back at his natural position
Though he described the shoulder as “super sore’’ at times, Chisholm (rested from Sunday’s lineup) rejected that as an excuse for making three throwing errors in his last four games.
“Obviously, (it’s been) a little bit of a struggle for him over there at third,’’ said Boone. “I think part of that is just being a little banged up and not being able to do some of his prep work that allows him to stay on top of things at third.
“Hopefully (the move back to second base is) something that serves him and us well.’’
At third base, Peraza offers plus-defense but he’s yet to show much promise as a hitter at the big-league level (.193 average, .567 OPS in 401 plate appearances), but he might have a better window of opportunity now.
As for Chisholm, you’re getting “elite slugging, fast. Great defense. I don’t know what else to tell you,’’ he said when asked for something of a scouting report.
“Sounds like a complete player to me,’’ he said with a laugh.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jazz Chisholm back at 2B, DJ LeMahieu in limbo in Yankees infield
Category: Baseball
