Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. Says He Will 'Definitely' Avoid Surgery amid Elbow Injury

Amid a left UCL sprain that has left him on the 10-day injured list, New York Yankees outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. is confident he won't need surgery.

"We're definitely going to avoid surgery," Chisholm said, per the New York Post's Greg Joyce. "The only way we'd have to get surgery is if it gets worse, and right now, it's looking better every day."

He's also optimistic that he'll be back on the field shortly.

"It's 100 percent realistic in my mind that at the end of the 10 days I'll be back," Chisholm said.

According to Joyce, Chisholm played catch at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, which was the first baseball activity he had participated in since suffering the injury to his non-throwing arm. He spent the last few days receiving treatment and strengthening the area around the ligament.

If it were up to Chisholm, he would be swinging a bat already, but he's trusting the process with the training staff.

"Me knowing myself, I really wanted to rush into it and start swinging a couple days ago," Chisholm said. "But right now, I'm just going to go with the training staff. We're probably going to start swinging in a day or two."

Despite Chisholm's confidence in a speedy return, manager Aaron Boone is taking things a bit more cautiously.

"He's got really good strength and range of motion," Boone said. "So it'll be that treatment to get all the soreness out of there and then hopefully start introducing baseball activities and see how that ramp-up goes. Hopefully it's not something that's really long, but we gotta get there.

"We're in the getting-soreness-out [stage], but I think the early signs are encouraging."

Chisholm has been a welcome addition to the Yankees lineup since he was traded at the deadline from the Miami Marlins. He's already picked up seven homers and 11 RBI since putting on the pinstripes, and he'll look to continue that production when he returns to the field.