Reprinted with permission from the May-June 2023 issue of Baseball Digest.

Who exactly is Jazz Chisholm Jr.?

“Like nobody else,” the Marlins' center fielder said. “One of one. There's only one of me in the world.”

It's hard to disagree. There's the name. The changing hair color. The megawatt smile. The manga cleats. The ice cream glove. An iced-out UFO chain that lights up. And whether it’s the home run off Jacob deGrom's 100 mph pitch or the celebration that ensues -- jump shot at first base, two fingers up at second, handshake with the third-base coach and the Euro step at home -- it's a production at every turn.

The 25-year-old Chisholm is a tantalizing blend of talent and theatrics. He has all the ingredients of a rising star in Major League Baseball.

“I see myself as all. As a baseball player, I see myself as an entertainer,” Chisholm said. “That's what we do as baseball players. We entertain. We're here to entertain. This is entertainment. They say it's a business, but it's a game. But we're here to entertain, and I'm here to entertain myself as well. I'm entertaining myself while I do it, too. So I'm just enjoying it myself.”

Growing up, Chisholm watched Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and David Ortiz. They didn't have quite the same flair he does, but Chisholm looked up to those baseball icons as a youngster in the Bahamas, a country of just over 410,000 people. He is the seventh of eight Bahamians to reach the big leagues, and the only All-Star among the group. Despite just 205 MLB games on his resume prior to 2023, Chisholm is already closing in on the all-time numbers of the late Bahamian trailblazer Andre Rodgers.

But Chisholm isn't satisfied being a pioneer for just Bahamian baseball. Sandy Alcantara became the first Cy Young Award winner in Marlins history last November, and Chisholm aspires to bring home hardware in the near future, too. His mission is to build a winning baseball culture alongside Alcantara.

“I do really want to, because I want the community to realize Miami is a place that you can call home to any sport -- not just football, basketball,” Chisholm said. “People from Miami have got to realize that we're going to do it. Like we're going to eventually put this thing together, and I feel like this is the year that we could try and build that up. I'm happy and grateful for everything I've done, but I want to be the first person in Marlins history to do stuff. You know what I mean? I want to make it bigger. I want something that a Marlin has never done before, and nobody in the league has ever done before, to make Marlins baseball bigger.”

The possibility of becoming the face of an MLB franchise was beyond Chisholm's wildest imagination -- and he's one to dream big. Yet it doesn't come as a surprise to those closest to him. At the age of 2, Chisholm told his softball-playing grandmother and everyone else that he would become a big leaguer and make the Hall of Fame. Mentor Geron Sands remembers a child with swag, confidence and knowledge of what he wanted to do.

Those traits drew in Mike Rodriguez. Months after signing as an international free agent, a 17-year-old Chisholm and other players at his former agency worked out at the University of Southern California. Of all the young talent present, the underdog Bahamian was the one to catch the eye of his future agent.

“‘Who is this bubbly kid?’” Rodriguez recalled thinking at the time. “It's like 10 in the morning, early in the offseason, and this guy just rolls into the stadium. And he's super happy-go-lucky and [with a] big smile. He's like, ‘Hey, check this out,’ in the cages, and I'm like, ‘All right, this guy has something special to him.’ He was literally the same kid then as he is now.”

At last year's All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, which Chisholm was unable to participate in because of a season-ending back injury, a swarm of people shouted his name as he and Sands exited a hotel elevator. Sands slowly backed off so Chisholm could take pictures with fans and sign autographs. That surreal moment still gives Sands goosebumps. The feeling returns at loanDepot park in Miami, where Sands sees Chisholm's likeness everywhere, especially during Bahamian Heritage Night.

This doesn't happen to kids from the Bahamas. At the same time, Chisholm always foresaw this future, and made it into reality. Sands hopes Chisholm's success will encourage the Bahamian government to invest more in the sport. He's proof that any kid can make it big.

“They recognize him,” said Sands, who is the co-founder of the International Elite Sports Academy in Nassau. “Every kid loves Jazz Chisholm. He's so down to earth and so humble. He's always the guy who stops for all of the kids and takes pictures and talks to them. He would get on the field and even play catch with them and get in games with them. He's an icon in the baseball world in Nassau, in the Bahamas. He's just leading the way.”

People gravitate to Chisholm because of his tangible joy and infectious personality. He's a marketing dream. While Rodriguez wondered whether it was too early in Chisholm's career to build a brand -- perhaps he should establish himself more as a player first -- companies were eager to partner with him. Opportunities that felt organic and aligned with what he's passionate about -- whether it's brand Jordan or the ARiA Collective ice cream gloves -- were yeses.

Then came January's announcement that Chisholm would be the cover athlete for “MLB The Show 23.” Rodriguez left a meeting last May at Sony Studios in San Diego believing Chisholm, who was an ambassador in 2022, could receive the honor. He captivated everyone in the room, as he always does.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker was with the Padres when Fernando Tatis Jr. first took the baseball world by storm, catapulting himself as a face of the sport and video game cover athlete. Schumaker's now 15-year-old son, Brody, loved watching Tatis make the impossible possible on a baseball field. Now, he wants to hop on the five-hour flight from Southern California to South Florida to catch Chisholm in person.

Last season, Rodriguez remembers stopping at an In-N-Out Burger on his drive back to Los Angeles from San Diego and spotting a kid fully decked out in Marlins gear -- a white T-shirt, socks and a hat. The 8-year-old boy unabashedly supported the hometown team with his family while on vacation.

Before big league camp opened in February, Chisholm stopped by a local Dick's Sporting Goods and helped local ballplayers pick out gear. Among those in attendance was the kid Rodriguez had met that day.

“I think Jazz handles it the right way,” Schumaker said. “I think when it takes away from your work and the actual game is when guys will get in trouble. So far, Jazz has not done that. The game is the most important part of your day. The other part of it is important, too. People in Miami are starting to understand there's a really special talent here. He's fun to go watch and see, and he's right in your backyard, and he does a really good job of getting his work done, and also interacting with the fans.”

Case in point: When the calendar turned to 2023 and the Marlins had yet to make a splash during the Hot Stove season to improve, Chisholm told Schumaker he would move to center field, if need be. That helped pave the way for Miami to acquire 2022 American League batting champion Luis Arraez, who is now playing second base, from the Twins.

As the National League's top vote-getter at second base for the 2022 All-Star Game, Chisholm certainly didn't need to relinquish his position.

“One thing that people don't realize is when you peel back all of Jazz Chisholm -- the necklaces and the chains and the charms -- when you peel all that back, the one thing that you'll always get back to with Jazz is, Jazz just wants to win,” Rodriguez said. “That's all he wants to do. He's so in love with baseball, and in love with wanting to win that that's the only important thing to him. He doesn't care about anything else. He really, really honestly does not care about anything else.”

Chisholm stepping forward is the type of buy-in that can make the center-field experiment pan out in the eyes of assistant general manager Brian Chattin. Ever since the day Chisholm brought the idea up, he has been a dedicated student, heavily leaning on outfield coach Jon Jay and teammates.

Chattin, who has been with the Marlins for 26 seasons, first saw Chisholm play in the 2018 Arizona Fall League. He jokes that it didn't take a seasoned scout to recognize the athleticism and potential. Every organization had Chisholm on its radar. A rare one-for-one prospect trade of Chisholm and pitcher Zac Gallen between the D-backs and Marlins went through ahead of the 2019 Trade Deadline.

It's hard to find a player comparable to Chisholm because his skill set is unique. Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramírez are arguably the most talented players in Marlins franchise history, but their primes came before the social media age. Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich had the talent but weren't showmen during their stints in Miami.

“The key with any of that is that you want to make sure that what we're here to do, it's about the team, it's one of 26, and that what our guys -- whether it's Jazz or any of our players -- when they're out on the field, that they're respecting the game, they're respecting their opponent, they're thinking about what's best for the team,” Chattin said. “The thing about Jazz is that he has a love of the game. He plays with a youthful exuberance, which is infectious. I think that's why people enjoy watching him play, because he does enjoy being on the field. He does enjoy competing. That's not something that you would want to take away from a player or try to diminish that love of the game.”

Injuries have kept Chisholm from reaching his high ceiling early on in his career. When a stress fracture in his lower back ended his 2022 season, he was slugging .535 with 28 extra-base hits and a 139 OPS+ through 60 games.

Nonetheless, Chisholm is impacting the next generation of ballplayers. His joie de vivre encourages kids from coast to coast to be themselves -- or at least copy his Euro step at tournaments. His confidence can be theirs.

“I love him,” said Washington Nationals first baseman Dominic Smith, who calls Chisholm his little brother. “I feel like anybody who can be just that energetic and themselves, I think that's a special trait to have. He's a very infectious person, he's a very kind person. He would do anything for any of his teammates, any of his family members, friends. That's just the type of heart he has as a person.

“I'm happy to see him succeed on the field. He's done some great things out there in the Bahamas, and I'm just proud of all of his growth, seeing him as a young 18-year-old kid kind of grow into his own and seeing what he's doing, the impact he's making. I'm very proud of him, and it's just the beginning for him. He's going to do some really great things.”