The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JAZZ Chisholm will make his 2020 debut in Triple-A Baseball.

The 22-year-old shortstop was assigned to the Wichita Wind Surge of the Pacific Coast League and the AAA affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins trimmed its spring training roster to 26 players yesterday and Chisholm - the No.3 ranked prospect in the organisation - along with several others were optioned to the minor leagues.

First baseman Lewin Diaz (No. 7) and outfielder Jesus Sanchez (No.4) will also join Chisholm with the Wind Surge in Triple-A.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly discussed the decision to option the top prospects to the minors with David Wilson of the Miami Herald.

"It's been really good to have those guys in camp and every one of them you're excited to have been able to watch them play the games, to an extent, and see how they react out there, but just to see the level of talent and seeing their work ethic.

"From their standpoint, honestly they need to play. To sit over here and watch games, it's okay being in big-league camp -- you're getting at-bats -- but when you're kind of getting down to what you know what your club kind of looks like, the at-bats go away," said Mattingly.

"These kids are all good kids that work hard, have good habits and some of them are a lot closer than the other ones, but even those are not that far away. They're right on the door. Some of them just seem like they're trying to knock it down."

Chisholm hit his first home run of spring training Sunday afternoon in a 7-3 loss to the St Louis Cardinals. In nine spring training appearances, he has hit .308 with three RBI, scored four runs, with a 1.115 OPS and two stolen bases.

The Wind Surge are new to the PCL after the former New Orleans Baby Cakes relocated to Wichita.

Chisholm completed his high school career at Life Prep Academy in Wichita, Kansas, where he also played basketball and football.

Chisholm was named the Marlins' No. 3 prospect last week and in the offseason, was listed at No.66 overall among the top 100 Prospects by MLB Pipeline.

In the off-season, he was named to the Marlins' 40-man roster, protecting him from the MLB's Rule 5 Draft.

He also competed for Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League. Last season, Chisholm was named the top defensive shortstop in the Double-A Southwest League and his advancement to Double-A baseball produced a Southern League All-Star selection after he led all the league's shortstops with 21 home runs and 173 total bases.