Jazz Chisholm Jr. credits Aaron Judge’s influence for his bold statement to Yankees manager Aaron Boone

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge is an empowering leader among his teammates and the latest endorsement came in from infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., who has been telling manager Aaron Boone that he will be the team's MVP this year.

With Chisholm, it's never ordinary. And his bold prediction to second Judge in the team's MVP battle speaks volumes about his sky-high confidence.

During an interview with Yes Network, Chishom Jr. spoke about who has given him the confidence to be expressive within the team.

"I mean, I think our captain, Aaron Judge, always gives it to me," Chisholm Jr. said.

If the versatile infielder does get his way to the leadoff spot, Chisholm revealed that he and Judge have a friendly battle over who can rack up more stolen bases and home runs.

"We have a little Jazz Chisholm-Aaron Judge battle right now—most stolen bases, most home runs," Chisholm added. "He's trying to beat me in stolen bases, and I'm trying to beat him in home runs and batting average as well as on-base percentage.

"So, I mean, I don’t want to argue with him about RBIs because, at the end of the day, I’m the one who's going to be scoring for him all the time. So I said, ‘It’s not fair—I’m going to be scoring for you, and you’re not scoring for me,’ you know what I mean?"

Jazz Chisholm Jr. returning to second base in 2025

Following a trade from the Miami Marlins to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline, Aaron Boone made him play at third base where he had relatively less experience as compared to second base.

Coming into the 2025 season, Boone acknowledged he thought for a while before deciding on shifting Chisholm Jr. to second base and man the middle infield alongside shortstop Anthony Volpe.

“It was close for me,” Boone said. “Depending on how the offseason shook out, I was keeping it in play with him. I don’t want to get into moving him back and forth. His athleticism in the middle of the diamond, with Anthony there, gives us an opportunity to be incredibly strong up the middle.”

With pieces falling well in place ahead of the season, the Yankees will enter another season with hopes of winning the World Series after 16 years.