The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a nagging toe turf injury that sidelined him during the Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

The Miami Marlins centre fielder is expected to spend the next three months of the offseason rehabbing the injury that now prevents him from wearing a shoe or running. The announcement came via a post to his Instagram page in which he wrote the surgery was successful.

The Marlins player had a tough time with the injury bug this MLB season. The 25-year-old was away from the team on three separate occasions throughout the year due to injuries.

He sustained the turf toe injury on his right foot in a game versus the Cincinnati Reds in early May.

The MLB star crashed into the wall of the left-centre field at the LoanDepot Park after trying to make a play in the eighth inning to prevent the team’s eventual 6-5 loss to the Reds. He spent more than a month nursing the first of three injuries in what was thought to be a right foot contusion.

Despite being told he might possibly need surgery for the toe injury, Chisholm Jr opted to return to the Marlins on June 27.

Less than a month after rejoining the team, he went down again, this time with a left oblique strain that kept him out of action for most of July. The injury occurred after the 25-year-old took a swing at the ball in the top of the sixth inning against the Atlanta Braves.

Additionally, the MLB’s face of “The Show” video game was out of the lineup again this time briefly as he suffered from knee discomfort in September.

The last injury to sideline him was critical as the Marlins needed him at the time to vie for a position in the National League playoff race. The Marlins went on to secure a wild card spot. However, they were unceremoniously ousted 2-0 by the Philadelphia Phillies in the best-of-three wild card playoff series.

The team lost game one 4-1 and got swept after a 7-1 game two loss.

Chisholm Jr appeared in 97 games for the Marlins this season. He averaged 19 home runs, a team-high 22 stolen bases, batted .250, notched 51 RBIs (runs batted in), and 50 runs scored. The Bahamian was one home run shy of turning in a 20-20 season which would have made him the first Marlins since Hanley Ramirez in 2010 to accomplish this feat.

The early ending of the Marlins season was disappointing but the team witnessed Chisholm Jr become the first player in franchise history to notch grand slams in back-to-back games.

The Marlins earned their fourth playoff appearance in 31 years and it was their second time making it in the last four years.