Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s insane Yankees fall-off after Silver Slugger season should be studied

Jazz Chisholm Jr. entered 2026 shooting for a 50/50 season with the New York Yankees. He was coming off an extremely productive year in 2025. He ended up with a 31/31 campaign to go along with 80 RBI and a .242/.332/.481 line. He made his second All-Star team and bagged his first Silver Slugger trophy.

Zoom ahead to mid-August 2026, and Chisholm has completely fallen off the map production-wise, and no one can explain what's happened — least of all Chisholm himself. Entering Tuesday, Chisholm was hitting 216/.295/.388 with 17 homers and 32 RBI through 115 games. Already at 140 strikeouts, Chisholm will surely surpass his career-worst mark of 152 strikeouts from the 2024 season. His 91 wRC+ is a far cry from his 126 wRC+ last season.

Where has Chisholm's power at the plate disappeared to? Where has his quality contact run off to? It's a mystery that has plagued Chisholm and the Yankees all season long, and it probably needs to be studied at this point.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. isn't making quality contact at the plate, and there's no solution in sight

Chisholm's 31% K rate is not only higher than last year's 27.9% but the highest of his career thus far. What's weird about Chisholm this year is that he's struggled to make good contact with pitches in the zone, even fastballs. This suggests he has a timing issue, something that Yankees manager Aaron Boone has noted on a couple of different occasions.

When Chisholm has made contact this year, it's been weaker than ever on the whole, replete with more infield outs than usual and fewer extra-base hits. Chisholm has been outspoken about his struggles but doesn't seem to know what the underlying issue is.

The Yankees have really needed Chisholm to snap out of it over the last month or so as their lineup has become more and more decimated by injuries. But Chisholm hasn't been able to shake off the prolonged slump. Over his last 30 games, he's hitting .192/.261/.365 with 43 strikeouts.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has cost himself millions of dollars with ice-cold 2026 season for Yankees

With Chisholm soon to enter free agency (and depart from the Yankees), his down year came at the worst possible time. A season similar to 2025 for Chisholm — or even a tad worse — would have positioned him for a generous long-term contract. He'll still get paid, but far less than most assumed he would entering the season.

The 2025 Silver Slugger will have his fair share of suitors, but they'll be using his 2026 as a leverage tactic in negotiations to drive his price down, even if they believe this year was simply a one-off.

Do Chisholm's immense struggles at the plate really amount to a timing problem? That's the only issue that's been raised publicly by Boone. Or, is there something else going on mentally with Chisholm? Perhaps he simply placed way too much pressure on himself heading into the contract year. Either way, pacing for a career-worst season right before free agency is incomprehensible.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow