Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. likely facing IL stint due to left elbow injury

CHICAGO – After coming out of Monday night’s loss to the White Sox with what the Yankees called a “left elbow injury,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said “I’m not super concerned” about it being something that would require a stint on the injured list.

He should have been.

Before Tuesday night’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field, Aaron Boone said an MRI taken earlier in the day on the elbow showed a “UCL injury,” and that Chisholm was “likely” headed to the IL.

Boone did not disclose exactly what the MRI showed in terms of the specific injury as, is typically the case in these situations, the team will have multiple doctors evaluate the results first.

“To what extent, we’re still working through,” Boone said. “We’ll probably have a better idea after all the doctors weigh in over the next 24 hours.”

Could the injury be a tear that would require season-ending surgery?

“I hope not,” Boone said. “We’ll see. We’ll see the extent of it and what the next several days are like, but I don’t know that yet.”

Chisholm, the club’s main acquisition before the July 30 trade deadline, started his first game as a Yankee in centerfield but has played primarily at third base, a position the 26-year-old had never played in his professional career – at any level – before doing so for the Yankees July 29 in Philadelphia.

He had adapted more than adequately, making the routine plays with relative ease and even successfully displaying some flash at the position as well.

Oswaldo Cabrera, who replaced Chisholm at third base Monday, started there Tuesday. Boone said veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu, who has been relegated mostly to starts at first base when the Yankees face a lefthanded starter, will also be in the mix to see some third base. Veteran utilityman Jon Berti can play third, but he’s been on the IL since May 25 with a left calf strain and has yet to begin a rehab assignment.

“If it is an IL (situation), we’ll probably bring someone up from Triple-A to potentially be part of the mix, too,” said Boone, a possible reference to Oswald Peraza, a one-time top infield prospect who started the season on the IL and whose inability to hit during his sporadic opportunities in the big leagues have caused his organizational stock to fall dramatically. “We’ll just kind of mix and match and see what makes the most sense.”

But if Chisholm does go on the IL Wednesday, the immediate move isn’t likely to be an infielder. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Yankees had not yet announced a starter for Wednesday’s game and, though they’ve pondered going the bullpen-game route, because the relief corps has been both taxed and beat up of late, the move well may be a pitcher.

Righty pitching prospect Will Warren, who started games for the big-league club July 30 and on Aug. 7, was initially scheduled to start Tuesday night’s game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Tanner Tully started instead), perhaps an indication Warren will get Wednesday night’s start against the White Sox.

The loss of Chisholm, meanwhile, is a potentially damaging one. Besides playing a solid third base, the lefthanded-hitting Chisholm had provided much-needed diversity to what had been a righty-heavy lineup. Before getting hurt Monday, Chisholm had two hits in the game and was hitting .316 with seven homers and a 1.063 OPS in 14 games.

He suffered the injury in the fifth inning when he slid into home plate and took a hard tag attempt by White Sox catcher Korey Lee.

“Slid in, my adrenaline was still going so I didn’t feel it right away,” Chisholm said. “A half inning went by . . . started to feel it a little bit, went to Boonie and the trainers and told them it was throbbing a little bit.”

Said Boone of being without Chisholm: “Obviously, he’s been really impactful for us and hopefully this is something that is a shorter period and that we get him back and rolling, but certainly tough to not have him in there and what he’s meant to our team already. Just do our best to support him and get him right and hopefully get him back out there.”