For the second straight year, Jazz Chisholm Jr. expected to be in the Yankees lineup for Game 1 of the AL wild card series.
For the second straight year, he was not.
With the Red Sox opening the series with lefty Payton Tolle on the mound, Aaron Boone started the righty-hitting Anthony Volpe at second base over the lefty-hitting Chisholm, a platoon that worked out as Volpe went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt in Tuesday’s 9-0 win.
“It’s a tough call there, one I deliberated on the last couple days, but ultimately this is the way I wanted to go in this first one,” Boone said before the game.
Last year, Chisholm was not happy to be sitting against lefty Garrett Crochet in Game 1, and spoke to reporters postgame with his back turned to them at his locker, showing his displeasure with the situation.
Boone described this year as “different scenarios, circumstances” — Chisholm played just three games after returning from the injured list for a right thumb sprain last week, with Volpe making the most of his call-up from Triple-A in the interim — and reiterated that he was OK with players being “ticked off at different points” because they are not in the lineup.
“I essentially just texted him, like, ‘Hey, you might be the most important person in the building tonight. We need you to be ready to go for the biggest spot, potentially,’ ” Boone said. “Obviously he’s going to play a huge role for us if we’re going to get deep in the playoffs and win a world championship.”
Chisholm figures to be back in the lineup on Wednesday for Game 2 against Red Sox righty Sonny Gray.
It has been a difficult contract year for the pending free agent, underperforming for most of it before finally getting hot right up until he injured his thumb earlier this month.
Amed Rosario was also in the lineup for Game 1, starting at third base and going 0-for-1 with a walk against Tolle before Ryan McMahon replaced him in the top of the fifth.
In the regular season, Rosario hit just .208 with a .606 OPS in 160 plate appearances against lefties, but the Yankees have continued to give him opportunities.
“I know his numbers haven’t been as great as they have been the last few years against lefties, but you dig a little bit and I think he’s been very much in line with who he’s been, he just hasn’t got a lot of results,” Boone said. “But I feel like he’s a real threat.”
The Yankees could have started another right-handed hitter, José Caballero at third over Rosario, but they seem to value him as a 10th man off the bench.
Caballero is the best pinch-running option on the roster that has 10 pitchers and 16 position players, the latter allowing Boone to get aggressive with how he uses his bench.
The final spot in the bullpen came down to a pair of lefties — Ryan Yarbrough or Tim Hill — with the Yankees taking Yarbrough because of his ability to give them some length if needed.
Hill, a lefty specialist who was homer-prone late in the season, could get back on the roster if the Yankees advance.
By then, they also could add another lefty in Ryan Weathers, who was left off the roster to continue building him up from a left forearm flexor strain.
Weathers was likely only going to be available for one inning the whole series, so the Yankees had him throw live during Monday’s workout, giving him a chance to pitch more often if the Yankees reach the ALDS.
“If we go on a long run here, I feel like Weathers could play a massive role for us,” Boone said.
Trent Grisham made the roster after missing the final three weeks of the regular season with a hamstring strain and played the final two innings in center field (shifting Spencer Jones to right) after Heliot Ramos was pinch hit for by Luis García Jr.
Asked if the left-handed hitter would start in center in Game 2 against Gray, Boone said, “not necessarily.”
