How the Yankees Should Utilize Jazz Chisholm Jr. When He Returns

With Aaron Judge likely done for the season, the New York Yankees will rely heavily on their other bats to pick up the slack.

One of those will be Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is nearing a return from the injured list with a sprained right thumb. Chisholm, who was putting up an .832 OPS and .367 wOBA since August 4, is expected to be activated during the Yankees' final homestand this coming week. Despite a very disappointing season as a whole, the 28-year-old's improved play is an extremely encouraging sign.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is “doing well” and should be activated on this homestand, Aaron Boone said.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) September 18, 2026

At the same time, Anthony Volpe has taken full advantage of his new opportunity at second base. When Chisholm went down, Volpe's improvements at the plate in Triple-A carried over to the major leagues and his production from the bottom of the order is a boon to the Yankees' offense. The 25-year old is slashing .296/.345/.481 in 29 plate appearances while also stealing four bases.

Anthony Volpe over his last 7 games:

🔥 .348 AVG
🔥 .965 OPS
🔥 1 HR
🔥 7 RBI
🔥 4 SB

Volpe is HEATING UP at the perfect time. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8SRu33qHfZ
— SleeperYankees (@SleeperYankees) September 18, 2026

The problem is that the Yankees have three middle infielders looking for starting spots. George Lombard Jr. is firmly entrenched at shortstop, which necessitated Volpe's transition to second base. Of course, second base is Chisholm's natural position and the Yankees have gotten well-above average defense from him there.

This means one of these three will be the odd man out... or does it?

The Yankees should play Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third base again

When the Yankees acquired Chisholm at the trade deadline in 2024, they already had Gleyber Torres at second base. So they tested Chisholm out at third base to ensure both players would be in the starting lineup. Chisholm also saw time at the hot corner last year when DJ LeMahieu played second, until the Yankees eventually released the aging LeMahieu to move Chisholm back to his natural position.

Chisholm's defense suffered at third in 2025, as he was worth -3 Outs Above Average (per Baseball Savant). But his athleticism and dynamic skillset is far too great to leave him out of the lineup entirely, even if he's endured a down year. On the other hand, it would be foolish for the Yankees to sit Volpe while he's hot at the plate and adapting well to second.

It will be a work in progress for Jazz Chisholm Jr. They are comfortable with him at third for the time being because Boone says he’s a “special athlete.” pic.twitter.com/4m9iKbhOWP
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) July 29, 2024

While second base has two strong options, third base is a major weakness. Ryan McMahon has been atrocious since returning to the lineup on Sept. 1, hitting just .154/.214/.179 in 42 plate appearances; the abysmal offensive production far outweighs McMahon's steady defense, even if the Yankees are going to rely on run prevention in the postseason. Jose Caballero is also capable of playing third, but he's best suited as a bench player at this point.

Between Chisholm and Volpe, the former is better suited to play third due to his past experience. The latter has a grand total of three games and 22.0 innings at the hot corner, all of them in Triple-A.

This certainly isn't an ideal situation for Chisholm: he's struggled for much of the season, got injured when he started turning things around, and may need to play at a secondary position to accommodate a teammate.

But this would likely be the Yankees' best lineup without Aaron Judge, and if Chisholm wants to both win a World Series and secure a future in the Bronx, then moving over to third is the best thing he can do to help the team right now.

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