Yankees Need Last Year's Jazz Chisholm to Cure Offensive Woes

The New York Yankees' lineup as a whole is struggling. It's hard to pinpoint exactly who has been disappointing the most. The only qualifying batters with a wRC+ over 100 are Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton.

It's a steep drop-off after that. Trent Grisham is teetering on league-average with a 95 wRC+. After that, the numbers take an even steeper plunge. Jazz Chisholm, Austin Wells, Ryan McMahon, and Jose Caballero haven't even cracked a 60 wRC+.

Chisholm, in particular, is the most disappointing. There is a lot of time left for him to turn the season around, and a hot or cold start in early April doesn't define a year. Still, it's frustarting to see these struggles, especially on a day when Jeffrey Springs carries a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

Jazz Chisholm, New York Yankees — Mar 31, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) strikes out during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park. | John Froschauer-Imagn Images

In a tiny sample size of 47 plate appearances, Chisholm is hitting .186/.255/.256 with a 54 wRC+. The saving grace is three doubles, which is at least three more extra-base hits on the year than Ryan McMahon has. McMahon has zero and hasn't hit a ball over 300 feet since their first series against the Giants.

Chisholm has also added five stolen bases. His old self has been there in spurts, but just hasn't shown his face enough on a nightly basis.

Chisholm's Frigid Start Has Concerning Underlying Metrics

With Chisholm, it's the quality of contact that has been the most frustrating to watch. Chisholm, who also shown a propensity to scorch baseballs, has an 87.7 MPH average exit velocity, 29.6% hard hit rate, and 7.4% barrel rate.

Those fall well short of his career numbers of 89.7 MPH exit velocity, 11.8% barrel rate and 41.9% hard-hit rate.

There is obviously still time for Chisholm to get where he needs to be. One hot week, and all of that stabilizes. This is how Chisholm sees it, anyway.

"It's cold. It's literally all it is," Chisholm said, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. "My swing feels great. When you step into that cold weather, and you stand there a couple of innings, your body starts to freeze ... I'm not using that as an excuse. I said the same thing last year. As soon as the weather heats up, I heat up. That's what it is. I can't explain why."

Boone also cited the weather after that tough loss against the Athletics.

"That's one of the challenges you have to deal with early in the season – at times," Boone said. "Both sides had the same conditions. Hopefully, when we get down [to St. Petersburg], we'll get a couple of guys going. Obviously, we are going to face good pitching when we play the Rays. Hopefully, we'll get some guys rolling."

If it is about the cold, the weather gets a little chilly in October. They don't play postseason baseball in July.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!