Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. goes on injured list with high-grade right oblique strain
Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after an injury during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Baltimore. Credit: AP
Even Jazz Chisholm Jr. was surprised to hear how bad it was.
Three days after saying he wasn’t overly concerned about the flank injury he suffered in Tuesday’s game against the Orioles, Chisholm was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Wednesday with a high-grade right oblique strain, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Friday. The timeline for similar injuries is four to six weeks.
“I was actually talking to him a couple minutes ago and he couldn’t believe it because he feels pretty good, so we’ll see,” said Boone, who added that Chisholm’s strain was in “a few spots.”
“I think it’s going to be some time. In his mind, it’s going to be pretty quick, but I think it’s going to be a while. We’ll see how he heals up,” Boone said.
Boone said the time frame of four to six weeks seems reasonable, but “Jazz in his history has been a quick healer, so we’ll see, but that’s the early diagnosis.”
Chisholm, who suffered an oblique tear in 2023 and said earlier this week that this injury didn’t feel nearly as bad, has gotten off to a slow start this season, hitting .181/.304/.410, though he does have seven homers, 17 RBIs and six stolen bases.
Jorbit Vivas, who has played in 601 minor-league games without a big-league at-bat, finally got his shot Friday, starting at second and batting ninth.
Vivas walked to lead off the fifth and scored with two outs on Paul Goldschmidt’s three-run homer.
It appears he’ll be the Yankees’ regular solution to the hole in their infield, at least for now. DJ LeMahieu, who suffered a calf injury in spring training, resumed his rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Friday. LeMahieu played four games with Somerset before needing what Boone called a “preemptive” cortisone shot in his hip earlier this week. There’s no firm date for his return, Boone said, but with Chisholm on the IL, LeMahieu presumably would slot into second when finally healthy.
That said, this could be a telling audition for Vivas, 24, who was slashing .319/.426/.436 with two homers, 15 RBIs and six stolen bases in 26 games with Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. Vivas has been called up twice before, including last month, when Trent Grisham went on paternity leave, without getting into a game. Acquired in 2023 from the Dodgers, who signed him as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela, he’s the Yankees’ No. 19 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
“You feel like you’re so close to go out there and play, but the moment wasn’t there, the opportunity wasn’t there at the time, so you get a little anxious,” Vivas said through an interpreter before Friday’s game. “At the same time, you understand. You keep doing your job and hope that eventually you’ll get the opportunity.”
Boone said he expects Vivas to “play a lot.”
“He’s playing really well down in Triple-A and he’s been up a couple times and I haven’t gotten him in yet, and we also know we have a good player there,” he said. “He can really play second and he can swing the bat. I’m looking forward to him getting a little bit of an opportunity there and hopefully taking advantage of that.”
Vivas, who bats lefthanded and can play second and third, stands out for his bat-to-ball skills, plate discipline and baserunning, though he isn’t an instinctual fielder, according to his MLB.com scouting report. Vivas hit .423 in 11 spring training games.
“He lays the barrel on the ball,” Boone said. “He’s got a little sock to the pull side. He’s very good at second. He’s athletic there. He moves well . . . It feels like we have a good player in him and hopefully this is a good opportunity for him to take advantage of it.”
Notes & quotes: The Yankees claimed outfielder Bryan de la Cruz off waivers from Atlanta and optioned him to Triple-A. De la Cruz had three decent seasons with the Marlins but struggled in stints with the Pirates and Atlanta, batting .191/.240/.213 with the latter team in 16 games last year. Giancarlo Stanton (elbow) was placed on the 60-day IL in a corresponding procedural move. Stanton, who’s eligible to return at the end of the month, remains on track and could hit live pitching this week or early next week . . . RHP Jake Cousins (forearm) is set to throw next week . . . RHP Clayton Beeter (shoulder) had his rehab assignment transferred from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
