CLE
Jazz Chisholm, IF
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Scouting report
Chisholm has whiffed in 30% of his career plate appearances, partially a product of a sophomoric approach to hitting and otherwise due to him arguably being too explosive for his own good. But that twitch and violence, Jazz's awesome ability to uncoil his body from the ground up and rotate with incredible speed, the natural lift in his swing -- many of the things that make him whiff-prone also make him exciting, and give him a chance to be an impact offensive player who also plays a premium defensive position very well. His skillset is somewhere on the Chris Taylor/Javier Báez continuum of strikeout/power offensive profiles at a premium defensive position, though the low-end of his potential outcomes looks like Freddy Galvis: a plus-gloved shortstop who hits for power, but with an OBP around .300. I wanted to see another year of plus walk rates before declaring that to be a true part of the skillset (Chisholm walked 11% of the time in 2019, up from a career 8%), but the pandemic made that impossible and Jazz earned the everyday second base job in Miami with his 2021 spring performance. His power is real (a 91.4 mph average exit velo would put him in the top 40 of the majors, while 48% of his balls in play being over 95 mph would be in the top 30), the lift is there (he has a career groundball rate in the low 30% range and a 17 degree average launch angle according to a source), and Jazz is athletic enough to be a plus defender at shortstop. The contrast between Chisholm and the ultra-steady Miguel Rojas is very stark, and it will be interesting to see how Miami handles the dynamic there over the next couple of seasons. (Alternate site, MLB)