WASHINGTON, D.C. - Jazz Chisholm has become one of those Yankees players who can make everybody in the room uneasy and still leave them talking about the same swing.
That was the case Friday night, when the second baseman crushed a two-run homer in the ninth inning to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 Yankees win over the Nationals. It was the kind of blast that stops a game cold, the kind that makes all the frustration around Chisholm’s game feel a little more complicated.
He can drive Aaron Boone crazy. He doesn’t always look like he fits the Yankees’ buttoned-up image.
The criticism around him is familiar: undisciplined, unserious, an underachiever. And plenty of Yankees fans have already decided they’ve seen enough.
But then he does something like this.
“Jazz is such a dynamic player,” Boone said. “I know he got off to a tough start in April and since then he’s been fine.
But Jazz shouldn’t be fine. He’s better than that.”
Jasson Dominguez saw the same thing from the dugout and on the bases. Dominguez singled to left off Matt Krook, stole second, and then watched Chisholm jump on Krook’s 1-1 hanging slider and send it soaring toward the second deck just inside the right field foul pole.
“The ball launched towards the heavens,” as the moment played out, and Krook never even looked up.
Chisholm did the opposite. He raised both arms, then stood at the plate for several seconds and soaked it in after what was his biggest home run of the season.
It’s the kind of self-glorification opponents can’t stand. The Yankees, though, know exactly why they live with it.
“He’s a guy who lives for the big moments,” Dominguez added. “He’s one of those guys who’s got that energy.”
The bigger question is whether the Yankees can count on that version of Chisholm often enough. Before he ever got to New York, Derek Jeter and Don Mattingly both tried to steer him in a different direction while he was with the Marlins.
Jeter was a part owner in Miami. Mattingly was the manager.
Both were former Yankees captains, and if anyone could have sold Chisholm on professionalism, it was them.
It didn’t really take.
He arrived in the Bronx in 2024 with that same reputation, and Judge took him under his wing. The arrangement has worked, mostly. Not perfectly, but enough to keep Chisholm in the middle of the conversation.
The numbers still tell part of the story. Chisholm is hitting .222, and his stated goal of a 50 home run-50 stolen base season is basically out of reach. But the Yankees have also seen a player who has started to absorb some of Judge’s influence and speak more like someone invested in the group.
After the game, Chisholm talked about the team’s recent slump and the need to stay connected.
“I feel like we’ve got to be more together,” Chisholm said after the game. “I feel like we were losing ourselves, we were splitting further and further apart. When we’re together, we’re unstoppable.
“Every time we go on a run, it’s because we’re always together, having fun as a team. That’s a big, big part of having your teammates’ backs and trusting your teammates.”
He also made a point about the difference between chasing numbers and helping the team win.
“Sometimes we just fall into that hole of “I gotta do it, I gotta do it” instead of just trying to do something to help the team,” he said. “Instead of trying to (hit) the home run every at-bat, let’s move the runner over, let’s get that (sacrifice bunt) in and everything like that.”
Friday’s win mattered for the Yankees, but it didn’t erase the larger picture. They’re five games out of first place, and they’re still trying to figure out a lot before October arrives.
Judge is working back from a fractured rib. Giancarlo Stanton’s return date remains unclear.
Left-hander Max Fried is another piece they’re waiting on. Paul Goldschmidt’s decline is another issue, especially with his 39th birthday approaching.
And even with the comeback against Washington, the bullpen remains a problem area. The Yankees lead the major leagues with 26 blown saves.
So yes, Chisholm can be maddening. Yes, he can look like a player the Yankees would rather not have to explain. But he can also change a game in one swing, and that still matters.
He’s a lot to sort through. On Friday, he was also the reason the Yankees walked away with a win.
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