Jazz Hands

 

Having Jazz Chisholm and Tim Anderson on the same team feels like you're trying to win the Attitude Olympics. If they still had Anthony Bass they'd be destined for the gold.

I suppose the best thing about Jazz Chisholm Jr. is that when he's on, he provides for you. Right now he's got 3 stolen bases, 8 RBIs and 2 homers, he's multifaceted and entertaining to watch. But man is he insufferable when he's not on. I think last season, or maybe the one before, the Marlins had to have a meeting solely to convince Chisholm to knock his hifalutin schtick off. His whole thing is he's larger than life, he's got a huge personality, and when he's got a problem with you, he tells you to your face. During the offseason, he incited a back-and-forth online argument with Miguel Rojas, who he accused of being a terrible leader in the clubhouse. Rojas essentially responded with, "dude, please." 

We've also made it to the 'clapping back at fans on social media' portion of Chisholm's career, because now he's going after people who are, honestly rightfully, going 'look, if you played well enough to fit how you're acting, there wouldn't be an issue'. I mean, in all fairness, Muhammad Ali was allowed to act like that because he actually won fights. Chisholm gets up there going 'I'm the greatest' and 'look at me', and he immediately gets injured and misses half the season, comes back and barely factors into a playoff run. I can't imagine this guy still acting like this as a trusted veteran. 35 years old, still acting 22. If he was playing under somebody like Dusty Baker, there'd be a stern talking to with reverence, and then he'd knock it off.

Tim Anderson is different, because most of the things he complains about are pretty valid. Some asshole doing something racist or some manager not realizing how he's treating him. It's just been harder for him to come across as a heroic MLB figure after the last two seasons of underwhelming play. Right now Anderson is hitting .280 with little to no XBH work, and little to no defensive perks. He's just a decent contact infielder now, which is kinda depressing when you think about how great he was in 2019. I think he gets along with Skip Schumaker better than he did with LaRussa, but seeing as Schumaker isn't even guaranteed to stay in Miami past this season, I'm not sure if that means anything.

The bottom line is that Chisholm and Anderson can only do so much when the team's 2-11 and gasping for air already. We already know they're gonna be without Alcantara and Perez this year, and thank heavens they have Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer right there, ready to start games. But man is this team looking dire, not even 6 months removed from looking playoff ready. Hopefully it doesn't get much worse than this. 

Coming Tomorrow- Apparently the White Sox weren't crazy to start this guy on Opening Day for his first-ever start.