Mr. Provocative

 

Y'know, it's been a while since baseball has had a flashy, almost-uncontrollable character. Like, Acuna is close but is a bit more sensible. Same with Tatis. You might have to go all the way back to Manny Ramirez's prime in Boston to find a force of energy that can be equated to Jazz Chisholm Jr. right now. Even if the injuries have robbed him of a palpable sample size for an MLB season, I understand why MLB the Show picked him for their cover boy this year: nobody in baseball has the personality that Jazz Chisholm has.

I mean...I am tempted to use the phrase Rodman-esque. Because...dying your hair blue, coming to work in snazzy suits and getups, jumping all over the place and taking advantage of the EXCESS of being a sports star is...yeah, that's the kind of shit Dennis Rodman did with the Bulls. I'm not saying Chisholm has some of the issues Rodman has, but Chisholm is a presence, and I think he's one of those people that wants to make himself known and make the most of a situation. He is allowed to get fancy things and enjoy having more than he's ever had before, and he's allowed to soak up the moment. It also helps that he's a really fun baseball player for a fun MLB team, and he's a really big star just a couple years after his debut. 

I just find last year so baffling, not because of his excellent stats, but because reports came from the Marlins' clubhouse of just how insufferable he could be. There was apparently a team meeting where the rest of the Marlins suggested he chill out [hey, uh...anyone else just realize that a lot of people that may have been in on that meeting, including Brian Anderson, Miguel Rojas, Jesus Aguilar and Pablo Lopez, are no longer on the team. Huh, weird], and several Marlins spoke out against Chisholm's 'Dennis Rodman act'. And then not too long after that, Chisholm lands on the IL and misses the rest of the season. What an odd breakthrough season. Becomes a hero, alienates everyone, gets a starting ASG nod and then misses the entire second half. And now he's back as a centerfielder and everyone loves him again pretty much.

Chisholm currently has 13 RBIs, 5 home runs and 11 steals. He is still slowly getting acclimated to playing the outfield everyday, but he's hitting like a champ and displaying the versatility that made the Gallen-for-Chisholm deal so even. The Marlins have people like Luis Arraez, Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk as killer assets [none homegrown], but Chisholm is basically the Marlins' marquee star, and if they keep it up, they could sneak into the playoffs and shock everybody. And man, if there's one person who I wanna see in the playoffs in his current glory, it's Jazz Chisholm.

Coming Tonight- Just found out I have tickets to see this guy play when he comes to Philly next month. I am...moderately amused.