The New York Yankees are hanging onto the final Wild Card spot by a thread, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. isn’t helping right now.
Chisholm has been in a prolonged slump since the All-Star break, dragging down the team’s already inconsistent offense.
When he’s locked in, Chisholm can be one of baseball’s most electric players — a walking highlight reel on both sides.
But lately, the spark hasn’t been there, and the Yankees are feeling the effects as their lineup continues to sputter.
Since the break, Chisholm is hitting just .208/.278/.319, with only two home runs and eight runs batted in during that span.
He’s striking out far too often, racking up 24 punchouts in his last 72 at-bats, and looking overmatched at times.
The stats tell the full story of Chisholm’s inconsistency
On the year, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is still having a respectable season at the plate with a .240/.332/.467 slash line.
He’s hit 19 home runs and holds a .799 OPS, which shows he’s made an impact even with the recent drop-off.
But the decline has been noticeable — especially at a time when the Yankees can’t afford disappearing acts in the lineup.
His advanced metrics raise some red flags, particularly his 8th percentile whiff rate and 9th percentile strikeout rate.
Those numbers suggest he’s chasing pitches out of the zone and coming up empty far too often in two-strike counts.
For a team that’s lacked consistent contact hitters, Chisholm’s issues put even more pressure on the top half of the order.
The Yankees need their star to lock back in
When Chisholm is hot, he adds a different dimension to the Yankees lineup — speed, power, and unpredictable chaos.
He can change a game in a flash with one swing or a stolen base, bringing an edge the team often lacks elsewhere.
But when he’s cold, the gaps in his approach become painfully obvious, and they’ve been exploited in recent weeks.
The Yankees don’t need perfection — they need Chisholm to stay aggressive, but with a sense of control and awareness.
He’s at his best when he hunts fastballs early and doesn’t fall behind in counts where he’s most vulnerable.
That means laying off the sliders in the dirt and trusting his ability to barrel up mistake pitches over the plate.
His defense still brings value, but the bat must follow
To his credit, Chisholm remains a steady and versatile defender, giving the Yankees flexibility at multiple infield positions.
He’s made several key plays this month and continues to be a net positive in the field even when his bat goes quiet.
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But for a team fighting to survive a brutal Wild Card race, the Yankees need more than just glove work from Jazz Chisholm.
With the schedule heating up and the margin for error shrinking, they need their star infielder to be a force again.
If Chisholm can turn it around soon, it could be the jolt this lineup needs to reclaim momentum heading into September.
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