For Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the New York Yankees, less equals much, much more. Chisholm carried the Yankees to Sunday’s win over the Athletics (NY 12, ATH 5) with both his bat and his glove, and continued his tremendous play since returning from an oblique injury on June 3. In 23 games this month, he’s hit .318/.379/.600 with six homers and four stolen bases.
“That’s why I call the guy a game-changer,” Aaron Judge said Sunday about Chisholm’s all-around play. “He can change the game on both sides of the ball.”
Chisholm opened the scoring Sunday with a solo home run in the second inning. He then turned a slick double play in the top of the third, broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the third, and made a great play on a hard-hit ground ball in the sixth. That ball was ticketed for the corner with the bases loaded, threatening to turn a laugher into a close game.
After starting the season at second base, Chisholm is playing third now because Oswaldo Cabrera suffered a season-ending ankle injury, and because the Yankees believe DJ LeMahieu’s arm is better equipped for second at this point in is career. Considering he did not play third at all in spring training, Chisholm’s defense has looked quite good, if not legitimately great.
The bat, though, is what has made Chisholm so valuable since returning from his oblique strain. He’s chalked it up to playing at 70%, which doesn’t mean giving 70% effort. It just means playing more under control, not overswinging, those kinds of things. Chisholm said assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler had been on him about dialing it down a notch, and not overdoing it.
“Coach Six (Roessler) said at 70%, I’m one of the best out there. At 100%, I might be dog crap. When you believe in something or it feels so right, you can’t go wrong with it,” Chisholm said on June 6. “… Earlier in the season I was pulling off (the ball) and hitting that foul or rolling over it because I was trying to hit a home run.”
Dialing it down to 70% is not something that shows up in the underlying numbers. Chisholm’s bat speed is up in June compared to April, before he went on the injured list, and his exit velocity and hard-hit rate are up accordingly. He is not swinging and missing more, however, which often accompanies an increase in bat speed and hard-hit ability.
|
Average bat speed |
72.3 mph |
73.7 mph |
72 mph |
|
Fast swing rate (i.e. 75 mph swings) |
27.2% |
36.9% |
23% |
|
Average exit velocity |
86.7 mph |
91.1 mph |
89.5 mph |
|
Hard-hit rate (i.e. 95 mph batted balls) |
37.3% |
51.6% |
41.2% |
|
Contact rate |
64.1% |
68.1% |
75.2% |
Playing at 70% does not necessarily mean physically exerting yourself less. It’s a mentality as much as anything. Chisholm is a high energy player who can be prone to getting too big with his swing and trying to end a slump with a five-run homer. Getting away from that and being more under control can go a very long way. Sometimes it just clicks that pedal to the floor isn’t always best.
Whatever the reason, Chisholm is playing the best baseball of his career since returning from the injured list, and the Yankees have needed it too with their offense struggling. Prior to Sunday’s two-homer game, Judge had been in his first slump of the season, and Chisholm had been New York’s best and most reliable offensive performer in June.
The Yankees avoided disaster late Sunday when Chisholm exited the field favoring his right hand after taking a swing. What looked like a potentially major injury was nothing serious. Chisholm said the bat hit a finger when it slipped out of his hand, and the pain subsided a few minutes later, allowing him to stay in the game. Losing him again would have been devastating.
“The bat kind of slipped out of my hand and hit me in the finger,” Chisholm explained. “Just a little minor scare. We’re good now.”
Chisholm has been a .257/.331/.497 hitter with 24 home runs and 28 stolen bases in 99 games since joining the Yankees at last summer’s trade deadline. Add in his defense, which is very good at second base and solid at third given his inexperience, and he’s been a 3.9 WAR player in two-thirds of a season. That’s a difference maker at a time when few difference-making infielders are available.
“You know, 70% Jazz has been great,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone joked after Sunday’s game. “I really do like his patience up there. He’s doing a good job controlling the strike zone, and then he’s so dangerous. He’s got such thunder in the bat, and then his speed. He’s playing well.”
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