Like many other left-handed hitters with some degree of power, Jazz Chisholm Jr. couldn’t help but be tempted by the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium.
And that was before he homered four times in his first four games as a Yankee following his trade from the Marlins.
All four of them came on the road — at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia — before Chisholm played his first game in The Bronx.
Following one game in center field against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, immediately after his arrival from Miami in exchange for three minor leaguers, Chisholm dominated with the Yankees in Philadelphia.
He dazzled at third base, went 7-for-19 with the four homers and eight RBIs and whiffed just twice in his first four games — all wins.
But the lefty-swinging Chisholm slowed down at the Stadium, especially during the doubleheader split against the Angels on Wednesday, when he went 1-for-8 with a whopping six strikeouts.
Asked if the proximity of the right field seats might have affected him in the early going at his new home, Chisholm acknowledged it had — and he added that perhaps Wednesday’s strikeout-filled mess might have come with a benefit.
“The first four days, [it did],’’ Chisholm said of the negative impact the ballpark may have had on his approach at the plate. “But then [Wednesday] happened and I was just like, ‘Forget about it. Go out there and hit the ball and it’s gonna do its thing.’ I’ve got pop to go anywhere.”
That attitude was coupled with extra pregame work Thursday with hitting coach James Rowson and assistants Pat Roessler and Casey Dykes, which paid immediate dividends.
“I feel like I was getting a little bit big,” Chisholm said. “Right field is kind of short, so I was pulling off the ball a little bit. So [we] worked all day and the results came out.”
To Chisholm’s point, since joining the Yankees, he’s pulled the ball 50 percent of the time compared to a career rate of 34.7.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since Chisholm’s 418-foot blast on Thursday was pulled to deep right-center and — not surprisingly — would have gone out of all 30 MLB ballparks, according to Statcast.
He also hit it off Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson, his second straight home run against a southpaw. Prior to those two, 14 of his 16 home runs were versus righties.
Chisholm has also continued his stellar play at third, with two defensive runs saved in his first 85 innings at the spot, according to Fangraphs.
That comes after he played well for the most part with Miami at second base, but often struggled at shortstop and in center field.
“I feel when I’m on the dirt [in the infield], I feel like I’m me again, myself,” Chisholm said. “I can go out there and play my game. I enjoy it.”
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Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)
