Jazz Chisholm Jr. has an opportunity to hitch an illustrious checklist of Yankees at Monday night time’s Dwelling Run Derby.
The slugging second baseman seeks to develop into the fifth Yankee to win MLB’s annual All-Star energy exhibition, following within the footsteps of Tino Martinez (1997), Jason Giambi (2002), Robinson Cano (2011) and Aaron Decide (2017).
“I’m just going out there to have fun,” Chisholm, 27, mentioned a number of days earlier than the occasion at Truist Park in Atlanta. “I ain’t trying to think that hard about it. I’m not even gonna really practice for it.”
Chisholm is about to develop into the seventh Yankee to compete within the derby and the primary since Decide in 2017. The Yankees are the one franchise to win the derby 4 instances.
It will likely be the primary derby look for Chisholm, who’s a second-time All-Star after hitting 17 homers within the first half.
Chisholm faces stiff competitors on the derby, because the eight-man subject additionally contains the MLB residence run chief in Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, in addition to Atlanta’s Matt Olson, who may have the help of the house crowd.
There’s additionally Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, whom Chisholm named as one of many high derby threats. Cruz is amongst MLB’s leaders in hard-hit charge, common exit velocity and barrel proportion.
Rounding out the competitors are Washington’s James Wooden, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Byron Buxton and Brent Rooker of the A’s.
Chisholm’s stepfather, Geron Sands, is about to pitch to him.
“He throws to me all the time. From when I was a kid, he’s been throwing to me,” Chisholm mentioned. “He throws to me every year in the Bahamas derby. It ain’t nothing new to us.”
This yr’s derby options three rounds, the primary of which provides every participant three minutes or 40 pitches to hit as many homers as attainable. The 4 gamers with essentially the most homers advance to the second spherical, the place the format switches to head-to-head matchups for the 2 spots within the closing.
Chisholm is not going to need to take care of two-time derby champion Pete Alonso, who declined MLB’s invitation to compete within the occasion for a sixth time.
“I’ve never really fully enjoyed the three off days, so I think for me, I just want to be in the best possible position to help this team win in the second half,” Alonso mentioned final week. “Personally, I feel like I’m in a groove with certain things.”
Alonso had participated within the occasion yearly it was held since 2019, when he gained it as a rookie. He additionally gained it in 2021. The derby didn’t occur in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
“I definitely will do it again,” Alonso mentioned. “It doesn’t mean no forever. If an All-Star Game happens at Citi Field or another park that I love to hit at like Fenway or Wrigley, like, for sure.”
