Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s response to terrible Yankees season sounds bad, but it's true

There might not be a more frustrating New York Yankees player in 2026 than Jazz Chisholm Jr. After becoming just the third player in the franchise's storied history to reach the 30-30 plateau last season, Chisholm Jr. put a target on his back by proclaiming he'd reach the 50-50 mark in 2026. Instead, he's mostly fallen flat.

“I just can’t help but get that gut feeling -- it’s going to be an amazing year,” Chisholm Jr. said back in February.

Instead, it's been a bizarre year. While there have been many instances of futility for the 28-year-old, there have also been fleeting moments when he's come up huge. It's hard to know what to make of a player who will wrecklessly flail at a breaking ball in the opposite batter's box one at-bat, then the next time up will blast a majestic go-ahead homer.

Defensively, Chisholm Jr. has been equally confounding. At times he's made stellar plays, while there have been numerous other occasions when he's made the most boneheaded gaffes imaginable. Even the defensive metrics can't agree if he's been good or bad with the glove, as Chisholm Jr. began the week with a goofy nine outs above average and -7 defensive runs saved. Wild.

Still, the offensive struggles are an even bigger concern. When recently asked if he had an answer, the normally talkative second baseman was grasping at straws.

“If I knew, I would already have fixed the problem,” Chisholm Jr. told The Athletic. “Even when I think I’m getting going hitting, it’s still an out. I’m still hitting it right at someone. I can hit it 107 (mph) and still hit it right at someone.”

He's not entirely wrong. Chisholm Jr. has a 90.7 miles per hour average exit velocity, which is a 77th percentile performance. Despite that, his expected batting average is just .208, which is even worse than the .216 mark he's put up. Part of the issue is that he's posted a fifth-percentile launch angle sweet spot percentage. Basically, he's hitting the ball hard pretty often, but it's been a lot of grounders and pop-ups.

“I feel like I have a 40 percent whiff rate on every pitch right now,” Chisholm said. “I don’t know why. I swing up. I swing down. I’ve tried to fix it a couple of different ways. When I fix it, it’s still unlucky.”

Chisholm Jr.'s whiff rate isn't quite 40%, but it's close. He's actually whiffing at a 31.5% clip, which ranks in the 11th percentile and is a primary driver of his putrid 31% strikeout rate.

What's behind Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s brutal and likely final season with the Yankees

It's not just one thing that has derailed Chisholm Jr.'s walk year, but there is a prime culprit. The issue at the heart of his struggles is his failure to produce against four-seam fastballs.

Opposing pitchers throw Chisholm Jr. the heater 31.9% of the time, more than any other offering by a wide margin, yet he's hitting just .192 against them. Even if you adjust for bad luck, his .210 xBA against four-seamers is well below the mark.

Most hitters make their living hammering misplaced fastballs, but that hasn't been the case for Chisholm Jr. this season. To date, he's produced an -11 run value against the pitch.

Why is this happening? It could be that he's selling out for power more than ever before. He's pulling the ball 54% of the time, up from last year's 48.9% rate, which in turn was up substantially from the 41.3% clip he posted in 2024.

That's created a perfect storm of him swinging at fastballs out of the zone, not squaring the ball up, and then being susceptible to the offspeed stuff off the heater. It's also created a situation where he's swinging and missing more, leading to the high strikeout rates.

High strikeouts plus poor quality of contact plus selling out for power is an equation of misery. That's what Chisholm Jr. is stuck in this season. It won't be something that is easy to snap out of on the fly, and all of the issues and controversies have made it obvious that his days in pinstripes are numbered.

Jazz is a talented player, but the Yankees can't afford to ride this rollercoaster anymore. It likely won't be until the offseason that he can fix his issues with fastballs and his overall approach, and by that point, New York should have a new starting second baseman.

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