KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s neck was tight, and so was he about Maikel Garcia.
The Yankees third baseman left Tuesday’s 10-2 win over the Royals an inning after getting banged up diving into third base on a steal in the sixth.
He and manager Aaron Boone did not seem overly concerned about his neck tightness or the right thumb that got caught up in the play, but Chisholm did take issue with the tag put on him by Garcia, the Royals third baseman who was in the middle of some drama with Chisholm during last October’s ALDS.
As Chisholm dove in for third on Tuesday, the throw hit off Garcia’s glove, which then came down and bonked Chisholm’s helmet in an attempt to make the tag. Chisholm’s head also collided with Garcia’s left knee on the play as his helmet fell off.
“I just feel like every time we have a problem, it’s always been him,” Chisholm said. “That’s the only reason I was so frustrated. To see that he didn’t even have the ball, for the way that he tagged me, I didn’t like it. Just frustrated, that’s it.”
The frustration dates back to the ALDS, when Chisholm accused Garcia of trying to injure Anthony Volpe with his slide into second base in Game 4, which led to the benches clearing.
Chisholm had ignited some drama earlier in the ALDS when he called the Royals “lucky” to win Game 2, which earned him a loud smattering of boos at Kauffman Stadium in Games 3 and 4.
That remained the case on Tuesday, though Chisholm said he liked it.
“I’m not at home, so I’d rather walk up to something instead of walking up to no noise at all,” Chisholm said. “I feel like on the road, when road hitters come up and there’s nothing going on, I feel like it’s just bleh.
“Go ahead and boo me, you’re giving me some music to at least walk up to.”
As for his neck, Chisholm and Boone said they expect him to be back in the lineup Wednesday.
The Yankees can no longer count on Jake Cousins helping out their bullpen in the short term, and perhaps the long term too.
The reliever was on his way back from a right elbow flexor strain, two games into a rehab assignment, but he has been pulled off of it after feeling “some stuff” in his elbow, manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.
Cousins was undergoing an MRI exam and meeting with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad on Tuesday to determine what was wrong, but it was a worrying development for the right-hander.
“To feel something with the elbow is concerning, but then again, we got to see what we have,” Boone said.
The Yankees were already likely to add bullpen help by the trade deadline, but Cousins’ setback only reinforces that need.
After emerging as a high-leverage weapon late last season — before and after missing the final week-plus of the regular season with a pec strain — Cousins arrived at spring training in the midst of a shutdown because of the forearm strain.
His comeback hit a snag in May when he dealt with a pec issue after a live batting practice session, but he bounced back to start a rehab assignment on June 3.
Cousins pitched in two rehab games, most recently on Saturday with High-A Hudson Valley, when he threw 25 pitches across two innings while striking out three.
The Yankees bullpen is already dealing with one big hit as Luke Weaver is on the IL with a hamstring strain that could keep him out a few more weeks.
Fernando Cruz recently returned from the IL for a shoulder strain while Jonathan Loáisiga is still trying to settle into a groove after coming back from 2024 elbow surgery last month.
Marcus Stroman is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday at Double-A Somerset.
The veteran right-hander has been out since mid-April with knee inflammation that was lingering for some time, but he has thrown two live batting practice sessions and will advance to rehab games.
It remains to be seen how the Yankees would use Stroman once he proves he is healthy, though Boone has indicated they are building him up as a starter.
Lefty swingman Ryan Yarbrough has mostly pitched well as a fill-in fifth starter, though the Red Sox rocked him on Saturday.
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