After playing an instrumental role in a 9-6 win over the Red Sox on Friday, Jazz Chisholm Jr. said something that might strike some as strange coming from the mouth of a professional athlete.
The Yankees’ third baseman said that he’s been playing at 70% since returning from an oblique strain on Tuesday. Not 100%. And certainly not the 110% that athletes love to tout.
Seventy.
Asked to explain, Chisholm said it was Yankees assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, known simply as “Six,” who told him to strive for 70%.
“Coach Six said at 70%, I’m one of the best out there,” Chisholm said. “At 100%, I might be dog crap.
“When you believe in something or it feels so right, you can’t go wrong with it.”
So far, the seemingly unconventional approach has paid dividends for Chisholm and the Yankees, as he is 8-for-16 with two home runs, six RBI and three stolen bases since coming off the IL.
On Friday, he went 3-for-5. The evening included a three-run, first-inning homer off Walker Buehler into Monument Park, an RBI single in the second and two stolen bases.
On Tuesday, Chisholm drilled a go-ahead, seventh-inning home run fresh off the IL. He also made a slick backhanded play in his return to third base and started the scoring with an RBI single.
Then came Wednesday, which saw Chisholm go 3-for-4 with an RBI single and a stolen base.
“He’s a game-changer,” Aaron Judge said Friday. “When you step out there in Yankee Stadium, the adrenaline is going to be flowing. It’s really just about slowing everything down and just taking a nice, easy approach, a nice easy swing, and that’s what I feel like I saw tonight.”
Added Anthony Volpe: “In his mind, it might be 70%, but I think what everyone in the clubhouse loves and respects about him is that it looks like every night he’s playing with his hair on fire and over 100%.”
Chisholm said that this 70% plan came together prior to his recent rehab assignment.
He, Roessler and the Yankees’ other hitting coaches, James Rowson and Casey Dykes, met and watched games from the infielder’s minor league career. “The swing just looked so effortless,” Chisholm observed, which led to questions from the coaches, as the personable star hit just .181 over 30 games prior to his oblique injury.
He had seven home runs over that 125-plate appearance span, but also 39 strikeouts.
“I was trying to hit a home run,” Chisholm admitted. “It just feels better right now. I feel like a baseball player again.”
At 70%, Chisholm believes he’s less inclined to over-swing and whiff. He’s trying to take his hits, wherever they may come.
“He’s squaring balls up,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s got so much talent and power. He doesn’t have to go reach for it. That kind of wiry thing he’s got inside him, he doesn’t have to work too hard to generate it. So nice and easy is always good for Jazz.”
The idea that Chisholm is at his best when he’s easing up is one he’s heard in the past. It just hasn’t clicked until now.
“I’ve really heard that all my life, that I need to tone down the way I play,” Chisholm said. “Because it’s electric, but you can be electric while being controlled at the same time. My 70% running is probably faster than a lot of guys in the league. So if at 70%, I’m hitting balls 108, 109 [mph], playing great defense, and out running and having stolen bases, I think that’s where I should stay at.”
Still, taking his foot off the gas is easier said than done.
“It’s super challenging for me because the only thing I knew was how to go fast. Basically, I was Ricky Bobby growing up,” Chisholm said, referring to the Will Ferrell character. “That’s all I knew.”
With a new percentage in place, Chisholm’s slash line is up to .223/.326/.471, and he owns a 126 wRC+. The 27-year-old also has nine homers and 23 RBI.
He knows his season didn’t get off on the right note, but he’s viewing his return from the IL as the start of a new campaign. In his mind, he was “starting everything over, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, all the way through” when he rejoined the Yankees.
So far, that mindset and a 70% intensity level are doing the trick, even if he’s not sure how Roessler settled on that number.
“It sounds weird,” Chisholm said. “I don’t want to disrespect any other player by saying that, but that’s what I’ve heard my whole career. Like, ‘Bro, if you would just calm down a little bit, you would be a way better baseball player.’
“We’re starting to see it a little bit now.”
