NEW YORK – Jazz Chisholm Jr. is headed to the 10-day injured list after an image revealed a sprained right thumb, putting the Yankees infielder’s availability for the remainder of the regular season in doubt. Chisholm suffered the injury sliding into second base during the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s 5-3 win over the Rockies. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Chisholm will be out of baseball activities for seven to 10 days. When Chisholm is officially placed on the disabled list, the Yankees will call up Anthony Volpe from Triple-A, a source told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. The team has not yet confirmed the move. There are 18 regular season games left for the Yankees, who are trying to chase the Rays for first place in the American League East. New York entered play Wednesday four games back in the division. The injury occurred as Chisholm began to enjoy one of his first extended hot streaks in an otherwise disappointing offensive season. He had reached base safely in 13 of his last 28 plate appearances (.464 on-base percentage). “I feel like he’s really been putting together some of his best at-bats of the season for a long period of time,” Boone said. “So it’s definitely a blow, but hopefully one that the weather here gets this right and puts it in position to impact us in the future.” Overall, Chisholm has hit .232/.312/.403 with 19 home runs, 55 RBIs and 40 stolen bases, hardly the stats he envisioned after speaking optimistically this spring about going 50/50 heading into a potential contract year. Volpe was named the reigning International League Player of the Week after going 11-for-21 (.524) with three doubles, three home runs, six RBIs, eight runs scored and five stolen bases from September 1-6. He was removed from the Wednesday night lineup at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez recently said Volpe “suddenly became Barry Bonds” with the RailRiders. “I feel like he’s in a very good situation,” Boone said of Volpe. “He’s been very productive there and played very well. He’s adapted well to the other positions. So we’ll see.” Volpe struggled in 56 major league games this season after returning from offseason left shoulder surgery, hitting .240/.325/.322 with one home run and 19 RBI. He has worked to expand his versatility in Triple-A, making 19 starts at second base, three at third base and 15 at shortstop. Entering Wednesday, Volpe had committed one error in 162 1/3 innings at second base (.987 fielding percentage). “I have great respect for the person and the player,” Boone said. “He has been a complete professional and has given his full effort to everything that has been thrown at him.” José Caballero replaced Chisholm in the ninth inning on Tuesday and then started at second base for the Yankees on Wednesday. Caballero could also see increased playing time in Chisholm’s absence. He has cooled off after an impressive April, hitting .235/.292/.372 with 13 home runs and a career-high 47 RBIs in 123 games. Luis García Jr. does not appear to be a candidate for second base, despite playing 129 games there last season with the Nationals. “It’s one of the things we’ll talk about, but at first I think of it mainly [base] right now,” Boone said.
