Jazz Chisholm Jr. arrived in 2026 with a bold promise and has spent most of the year fighting the kind of season that makes that promise look even louder in hindsight.
After becoming just the third player in Yankees history to post a 30-30 season last year, Chisholm Jr. said he would chase the 50-50 club in 2026. Back in February, he sounded convinced: “I just can’t help but get that gut feeling -- it’s going to be an amazing year,” Chisholm Jr. said.
That hasn’t been the story so far. The 28-year-old has mixed ugly stretches with bursts of real damage, which is part of what makes him such a maddening watch.
One at-bat can end with a wild swing at a breaking ball far outside the zone; the next can turn into a towering go-ahead homer. The same uneven rhythm shows up in the field, where he’s flashed brilliance and then followed it with head-scratching mistakes.
Even the numbers can’t settle the argument, with Chisholm Jr. entering the week at nine outs above average and -7 defensive runs saved.
The offensive side, though, is where the alarm bells ring loudest. When The Athletic asked him recently whether he had a fix, he sounded stuck.
“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.”
That frustration fits the stat line. Chisholm Jr. owns a 90.7 miles per hour average exit velocity, which lands in the 77th percentile, but the contact quality hasn’t translated.
His expected batting average sits at .208, worse than his actual .216 mark, and his launch angle sweet spot percentage is in the fifth percentile. In plain terms, he’s hitting the ball hard enough, but too much of it is finding the ground or floating harmlessly into the air.
“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.”
The whiff rate isn’t 40%, but it is ugly: 31.5%, which puts him in the 11th percentile and helps explain the 31% strikeout rate that has buried his production.
The biggest culprit has been his trouble against four-seam fastballs. Pitchers are throwing him heaters 31.9% of the time, more than any other pitch by a clear margin, and he’s only batting .192 against them.
Even the expected numbers don’t offer much comfort, with a .210 xBA against four-seamers. So far, he’s produced an -11 run value against the pitch.
Part of the problem appears to be an even stronger pull-heavy approach. Chisholm Jr. is pulling the ball 54% of the time, up from 48.9% last season and well above his 41.3% rate in 2024. That has left him vulnerable in a few different ways: chasing fastballs off the plate, failing to square up the ones he does hit, and then getting beat by offspeed pitches that follow the heater.
Put it all together and the picture is bleak: strikeouts, weak contact, and a power-first approach that has worked against him more often than not. The article’s conclusion is blunt - this is not the kind of issue that disappears in a hurry, and the Yankees may not want to keep living with the volatility much longer. By the offseason, Chisholm Jr. will likely be working on his fastball problem and his overall approach, and New York could be looking for a new starting second baseman.
In Other News...
Yankees Sweep Bid Comes With A New Third Base Concern
Gerrit Cole has steadied the Yankees at just the right time, stringing together four strong starts with a 1.46 ERA and no home runs allowed over 25 innings. Now he lines up to face the Orioles with Kyle Bradish on the other side, giving New York a familiar big-game pitching matchup as it tries to keep momentum rolling in a series that still carries weight in the standings and in the clubhouse.
The lineup picture, though, has another layer to it. Jose Caballero is set to start at third base with Ryan McMahon sidelined by a thumb injury, while Cody Bellinger has begun a minor league rehab assignment after a strained left hamstring. For a Yankees team trying to tighten everything up heading into a big stretch, the infield shuffle is a reminder that even when the pitching is clicking, the margins can still get a little thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fans Have Fresh Reason To Revisit That Devin Williams Trade
Nestor Cortes is officially back on the move, this time to Philadelphia on a major-league deal as he works his way back from surgery for a torn biceps tendon. He has not pitched in the majors in 2026, which adds another layer to a trade the Yankees have already had plenty of reason to revisit: the December 2024 deal that sent Cortes, Caleb Durbin and cash to Milwaukee for Devin Williams.
Williams never gave the Yankees the kind of return they had in mind, then eventually landed with the Mets, while Durbin has gone on to impress with both the Brewers and Red Sox. For New York, the trade remains tied to a familiar frustration, because it is not just about what Williams did or did not do in pinstripes - it is also about the player development and roster fit the Yankees let walk away at a time when they still search for more consistent offense. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Just Made A Telling Bet On Their Next Wave
The Yankees are already making their next long-range investment, lining up a deal in the international market that says plenty about how they want to build behind the scenes. The organization has reportedly reached a verbal pre-agreement with a teenage outfielder from the Dominican Republic, a player known for his speed, power and offensive success in his home country, even though he is still too young to sign a professional contract under MLB rules.
What makes the commitment stand out is the size of it and the timing. A promise this substantial would represent a major slice of the clubs recent international signing pool, a sign that New York is willing to keep pushing resources toward the next wave of talent while the rules around international signings could still shift in the future. [Read more 🡒]