Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t get to start for the Yankees in their Game 1 Wild Card loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday, but he did suit up for another New York team later that evening in an effort to blow off steam.
“I played ‘MLB: The Show’ and I mercy-ruled someone,” Chisholm said Wednesday when asked how he got over not starting, as he had been visibly and frustrated over Aaron Boone’s decision to leave him out of the starting lineup against Boston’s left-handed ace, Garrett Crochet, the night before. “That’s how I get my stress off.”
Chisholm, who just authored a 30-30 season, went on to reveal that he plays with his own custom team on his PlayStation console, the New York Aliens. The extraterrestrial squad is stacked, as former players such as Jimmy Rollins and Ken Griffey Jr. star alongside Chisholm.
That loaded lineup helped Chisholm beat a fellow online gamer, 12-1, on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of a cheat code,” a smiling Chisholm said, adding that he loves to trash talk into his headset when he plays. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Chisholm, rocking a “One Piece” Luffy hockey jersey — the manga series is among the 27-year-old’s favorite shows — was in a far better mood Wednesday than he was the night before, when he discussed Boone’s decision not to start him with his back turned to reporters. With Game 2 going much better for the second baseman and the Yankees — they won, 4-3, after Chisholm made several pivotal plays — he made sure to note that he has no issues with his manager.
“There is never a problem between me and Aaron Boone. He’s been my manager all year, and I’ve stood behind him all year. We always have disagreements. I mean, I played third base this year, and we had a little bit of a disagreement in that,” Chisholm said, referring to his temporary midseason switch from second to the hot corner. “But at the end of the day, I always stand with Boonie because he always understands where I come from.
“He knows I am a passionate player. He knows I wear my feelings on my sleeve. He knows I am there to compete.”
Boone echoed those sentiments, stating, “Jazz and I are good. No concerns that he was going to go out there and get it done.”
Chisholm certainly got it done in his return to the starting lineup Wednesday, as he most notably scored all the way from first on an Austin Wells single in the eighth inning after reaching on a seven-pitch walk.
Chisholm, blazing his way across the basepaths in just 9.16 seconds, lost his helmet before diving head-first into home plate for the go-ahead run. His body sprawled out in the dirt after beating a tag from catcher Carlos Narváez, Chisholm caught his breath on the ground as Yankee Stadium shook.
“Any ball that an outfielder moves to his left or right [for], I have to score,” Chisholm said. “That’s all I was thinking.”
Wells Wallop + Jazz Wheels pic.twitter.com/KtZp6ATymB
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 2, 2025
Chisholm recorded a few highlights before that as well, starting a pretty double play with a hopping jump throw in the third inning before fully extending on a Masataka Yoshida grounder up the middle in the seventh. The diving effort didn’t yield an out, but it stopped a run from scoring with the game tied at three.
With the bases loaded, an animated Fernando Cruz then escaped the jam by getting Trevor Story to line out to the center field warning track.
“Obviously, his range is pretty special,” Boone said of Chisholm’s dive.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s diving stop ended up saving a run 👀#Postseason pic.twitter.com/2oVTlLD8kw
— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2025
Prior to the game, the skipper said that he didn’t need Chisholm to “put a happy face on” after sitting for most of Game 1.
“I need him to go play his tail off,” Boone continued, “which I know he’s going to do, and hopefully he can help us do his thing and impact us winning the game.”
That Chisholm did exactly that didn’t come as a surprise to any of his teammates, even after he appeared upset the previous day.
“What do you expect?” Aaron Judge said. “He’s a game-changer, but it just shows you the maturity to not take what happened the day before and bring it in today’s game. He showed up ready to play today and ended up having the biggest plays for us.”
With Chisholm set to start again on Thursday against the left-handed Connelly Early, the Yankees are hoping for another huge night. Not only for the 27-year-old, but for the team, as Game 3 will determine whether or not the Bombers get to continue their season.
Chisholm, always confident, stopped short of guaranteeing the Yankees a win when asked, though he seemed to be thinking along those lines.
“There’s only one answer to that in my head, and I think everybody knows that,” he said. “See, I can guarantee that we’re gonna fight. I believe in my teammates that we’re gonna win. I believe that. But you don’t know baseball, so at the end of the day, baseball is gonna be baseball.
“But at the end of the day, I believe that my team is gonna win.”
