‘I thought I would have been back’: Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. reflects on season-ending injury
Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t think the injury would amount to this. Even at his worst in the days after initially being sidelined by a back injury, the days in late June and early July when any sort of movement would cause “excruciating pain,” Chisholm was optimistic he would be back on the field, back helping the Miami Marlins, back finishing off a breakout second MLB season that saw him earn his first All-Star nod.
“I thought I would have been back in like a month,” Chisholm said Wednesday. “I thought I was going to be back in time for the All-Star Game.
“It didn’t go that way.”
Instead, here’s Chisholm, his season done after just 60 games and approaching three full months of rehab for a stress fracture in his lower back. He hasn’t put on a glove, swung a bat or, Chisholm said, wore tennis shoes since July 18 when he took batting practice at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles the day before the All-Star Game.
Chisholm, ever a competitor, was pushing to get back on the field to close the season.
But with time running out and the Marlins wanted to be cautious with one of their top young players, the decision against that was made.
“We could have probably pushed Jazz to be able to come back and DH or something,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I think the risk/reward on that — he has a stress fracture in his back. It’s something you could say, ‘Well, it’s healed, but is it all the way?’ It just doesn’t seem to be worth it.”
‘Hard to walk away’
With that said, Chisholm is quick to admit the injury and the way his year ended is frustrating.
He was having a strong season and the Marlins were in the thick of the playoff race when he went on the injured list on June 29. At the time of his injury, Chisholm led the Marlins in home runs (14), RBI (45) and runs scored (39) and was second with 12 stolen bases to go along with a .254 batting average, .535 slugging mark and .860 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
“It’s just hard to walk away from such a season like that,” Chisholm said.
Especially since Chisholm thought he would return. On July 15, a little more than two weeks after going on the injured list, Chisholm was participating in just about every form of baseball activity possible outside of playing in a live game game while rehabbing at the Marlins’ training complex in Jupiter.
He took batting practice in Los Angeles three days after that, on July 18, during the All-Star Game workout day, one day after seeing a spine specialist.
Three days after that, on July 21, the Marlins announced that Chisholm underwent a follow-up CT scan, which revealed the stress fracture.
Chisholm said he felt the pain mostly when he was sprinting, which was one of the last steps of his rehab process. On an attempt to increase his running progression during his rehab before the All-Star Game, Chisholm said he couldn’t walk.
“That really held me back,” Chisholm said. “That’s when it was at it’s worst.”
‘Tough to watch from the bench’
As for the Marlins as a whole, they are 25-45 in 70 games since Chisholm last played. The offense has regressed mightily without its spark plug at the top of the lineup.
They have scored just 189 runs in the 70 games since Chisholm’s injury, an average of 2.7 per game that is by far the worst in MLB in this stretch (for context, the Los Angeles Angels are the second worst at 3.36 runs per game — 222 runs in 66 games). They have a .211 batting average, .595 team OPS and 44 home runs in that stretch, too — all the worst in MLB since July 29.
The Marlins had a 37-inning scoreless streak in July that tied the franchise record set in 2013. They had a 16-game run from July 30 to Aug. 15 in which they scored three runs or fewer that not only shattered the previous franchise record of nine but was three games shy of the longest stretch in MLB history.
Outside of a five-game winning streak immediately following his IL placement, the Marlins have not won more than two games in a row since Chisholm was sidelined.
“The toughest part,” Chisholm said, ”is not being able to help the team. ... It sucks when you can’t help and you’re hurt. You’re sitting there and you’re helpless basically to your team.
“It’s tough to watch from the bench and knowing you can’t do anything.”
But Chisholm also understands the bigger plan in mind. With his combination of speed, power and flair, he has the potential to be a generational player — if he can stay healthy.
Returning to the field in the closing of a lost season may have been nice, but there’s no need to risk any increased injury when there are fewer than 20 games left to play.
For now, Chisholm’s focus will remain on his rehab. He hopes to resume baseball activities in November or December, similar to how he usually approaches the offseason, and be ready when spring training begins.
“The organization basically made that decision for him,” Mattingly said, “that we were going to just let this thing go, keep strengthening all year long, so we know going into the winter that he’s healthy, he’s ready, he’s doing everything, he feels great.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
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