The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

JASRADO “Jazz” Chisholm Jr made his return to home soil this past weekend at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

The Miami Marlins centre fielder not only greeted scores of excited kids from the Jazz Chisholm Little League, but also gave insight on next season’s expectations, provided an injury update and shared his outlook on the previous season.

The Bahamian Major League Baseball (MLB) professional player was all smiles as he signed autographs and prepared to watch the Little League games on Saturday.

The Marlins wrapped up their MLB season with an 84-78 win/loss record as they earned one of the two remaining final wild card spots to make the National League (NL) playoffs of the MLB.

After making it to their fourth playoff appearance in 31 years, the Marlins were ousted in a 2-0 sweep courtesy of the Philadelphia Phillies in the best-of-three wild card series.

Following the team’s untimely playoff exit, the 25-year-old got surgery on a nagging turf toe injury that sidelined him during the regular season. He is expected to rehab for the next three months and currently has a walking boot on his right foot.

“I should be back to running January 1 so in three months, the surgery went well, it was successful, the foot just throbs a little bit now but, other than that, I am just ready to go chill with the kids, be out here with them and help them get to where they wanna be,” Chisholm Jr said.

In regards to this year’s playoffs, the centre fielder described the atmosphere at the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia as one of the loudest he has ever experienced and said the team is now ready to do it again.

“We just plan to do it again now we know what it takes to get there, so we are gonna just get there again but now we know what it takes to win, saw how we got to play, and who we gotta play against to win. I feel for us we just took it into experience,” the MLB star said.

It is no secret that the 25-year-old struggled with his fair share of injuries in the previous season after only playing 97 games in total.

He had three separate stints where he was unable to join the team on the field. The first came against the Cincinnati Reds in May when he collided with the left centre field wall at the LoanDepot Park.

The injury kept him out of action for nearly six weeks and he returned in June.

Shortly after, the Miami Marlins player went out with a left oblique strain against the Atlanta Braves which kept him out of the lineup for a good chunk of July.

His final injury was some knee discomfort in September as the Marlins were on the hunt for their fourth playoff appearance in more than three decades.

He expressed his displeasure with not being able to play up to 150 games due to injuries throughout the season.

“Personally if I don’t play 140 or 150 games, nobody would ever see my potential, they only see half of it so, for me, it is just like every time I don’t get to 150 games I had a bad season,” he told reporters.

In the 97 games played this season, Chisholm Jr was able to average 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 player since Hanley Ramirez in 2010 to accomplish this accolade.

During the season, he also made history after collecting back-to-back grand slams which made him the first player in franchise history to ever attain this accomplishment.

“That’s me at half of a season, that is not what I can do. That is what I expect other guys to do…for me that is not a great season. “I have been doing that from I was 19 in the minor league, that is not how I play, for me until I can play 150 games and show you what I really got, that is only bottom of the list,” he said.

The MLB season also saw the Bahamian make the switch from shortstop to the centre field position. He talked about the adjustment period during the transition.

“I feel like it got easier from the first month in spring training, it was bad to when you got into the season and then it just all clicked together and it just started coming together in games, just being a person that loves to compete and be out there, I take it to heart when I am not the best person out there, so I had to flip the switch and feel it out,” he said.

Overall, Chisholm Jr was excited to be home with the Little League players and is looking forward to improving next season.