Jazz Chisholm Jr. confident he’ll return from thumb injury before playoffs

Jazz Chisholm Jr. expects to be back on the field before the playoffs begin.

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Chisholm — who sprained his right thumb after diving into second base Tuesday — is sporting a brace on his hand and will be shut down from baseball activities for 7-10 days, but the Yankees second baseman doesn’t believe his absence will last much longer because he is “confident in [his] healing abilities.”

“It’s not that bad, I don’t think,” Chisholm said before Thursday’s 10-3 win over the Rockies. “I think we should be good in 10 days or so.”

Chisholm has reason for optimism. Last season, he missed less than five weeks with an oblique injury after being given a return timeline of 4-6 weeks.

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In 2024, the recently acquired Yankee returned from a sprained left elbow in less than two weeks.

“He does have a history of being a fast healer,” manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s truth to that. If you look at his injury history, he’s kind of beaten the timeline every time. But we’ll listen to the thumb, listen to his body and see how he recovers.”

After hurting his thumb this week, Chisholm said he was unaware of the severity of the injury. Only after he returned to the field and bounced a throw to first base did he realize he needed to be removed.

“When it first happened, it just went completely numb,” said Chisholm, who was replaced by Anthony Volpe on the active roster. “I didn’t have any feeling in it. That’s how come I didn’t know how bad it was until I tried to throw the baseball and couldn’t feel the ball.”

Before being placed on the 10-day injured list, Chisholm finally appeared to be breaking out of his season-long slump.

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The two-time All-Star — who opened the season by setting the goal of becoming the second 50-50 player in history — has posted a career-worst .232 batting average and .715 OPS this season, with 19 home runs and 40 stolen bases. But over his past 29 games, the 28-year-old is hitting .295 with an .832 OPS.

Following this weekend’s Subway Series, the Yankees travel to Minnesota and Arizona, then return for a season-ending, seven-game homestand, beginning exactly two weeks after the injury occurred.

Chisholm anticipates being back by then, giving himself the opportunity to shed any rust before the only month that matters.

“It’s frustrating, but right now the goal is to win a World Series,” Chisholm said. “Right now, all I’m thinking about is getting healthy and being back ready for October, honestly.”