‘The Prince of New York': How Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. transformed into an All-Star

New York Times

a day ago

NEW YORK — Every time Jazz Chisholm Jr. or Aaron Judge hits a home run, they wrap up their choreographed celebratory handshake by crowning themselves. It starts with a slap of the hands — forward, then back — followed by two quick forward slaps, and finishes with both players forming a crown with their hands above their heads like baseball royalty.
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'My middle name is Prince,' Chisholm said. 'They call (Judge) the King of New York. They call me the Prince of New York.'
The Prince of New York now reigns from the New York Yankees' clubhouse, where a regal red robe is draped over his chair and a crown rests atop it. The Yankees have been giving the robe and crown to the player who had the 'golden at-bats of the month,' and Chisholm was the selection for June, voted on by the players. Cody Bellinger won the honor in May, but the crown was never spotted inside the clubhouse until Chisholm received it. Whenever Chisholm goes off in a game, afterward he'll sit in his seat with his crown on his head, throne claimed, proudly showing off his honor.
On Monday night at Truist Park in Atlanta, Chisholm will participate in the Home Run Derby for the first time in his career, hoping to take home an iced-out chain that he would most certainly wear with his regalia.
The 2025 Home Run Derby chain 🥶💎
The chain will be presented to the winner of this year's Home Run Derby pic.twitter.com/thKVRu7fiO
— MLB (@MLB) July 10, 2025
His rise to becoming an American League All-Star in his first full season with the Yankees is tied to several big gains and began shortly after he went on the injured list in late April with a right oblique strain. He was 177 pounds when he hurt himself on a swing in Baltimore on April 29. By June 1, he weighed 190.2 pounds. And don't forget the 0.2 pounds when you mention his weight. Every ounce counts for Chisholm, who has battled for years to add weight to his wiry frame. When the scale showed 190.2 pounds, Chisholm took a video and sent it to his friends. He then ran around the clubhouse in jubilation.
The difference for Chisholm is his water consumption, he says.
'Compared to the amount of water I used to drink, I drink like eight times (more now),' Chisholm said. 'It's just ridiculous the amount of water intake I have now. My stomach always feels full as f— because of the water.'
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Before the injury, Chisholm said he would drink about three bottles of water in a day. He'd mix juices in with meals, but that was it. Now, he's always hydrating.
Chisholm, 27, drinks a bottle of water before he gets out of bed. He sets one on his nightstand before bed so he can chug it immediately upon waking up. Without fail, Chisholm will get up at 6 a.m., chug water, get in his hot tub, shower, drink another bottle of water, then eat breakfast with a bottle of water and juice. Then he'll play video games for a couple of hours while he sips on a few bottles of water before heading to the stadium.
Chisholm said he didn't change anything about his diet while he rehabbed. He worked out every day. The only change he made in his life was how much water he drank.
He is just as confused as you might be in reading this.
'Seriously, no joke,' Chisholm said. 'I could be eating a lot and I'd still be at 177 pounds. I just drink an insane amount of water.'
But there was another major change that happened for the two-time All-Star since returning from his oblique injury in early June. He went from being a slightly above-league-average hitter with a 102 wRC+ this season through his first 125 plate appearances to having a 174 wRC+ in his last 146 plate appearances, making him one of MLB's 10 best hitters during that span.
Chisholm went from striking out in more than 31 percent of his plate appearances to just more than 23 percent. There have been mechanical changes for Chisholm, too, that have contributed to his newfound success. He went from an average bat speed of 72 mph in March and April to 75 mph in July. That has coincided with Chisholm's average exit velocity rising by 3 mph. He has also ditched his leg kick for a toe-tap, which usually helps hitters stay more in control of their swings.
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That is at the heart of what Chisholm believes has taken his game to the next level. He calls it a 70 percent mindset, which assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler helped him develop. Roessler told Chisholm that his '70 percent swing' is better than most players' 100 percent swing. The results have been undeniable. But Chisholm was convinced that his 70 percent swing was decreasing his bat speed.
'I am swinging less hard, 1,000 percent,' Chisholm said. 'I'm sure ya'll could tell.'
He was stunned when informed that his bat speed was actually faster than before the change. He attributed that to being in sync with his mechanics like never before. Everything is smooth now. No longer does it look like Chisholm is trying to hit 500-foot bombs.
'The biggest thing with Jazz is when Jazz is loose and has that quickness to his swing — he uses his wrists and hands as good as anybody,' Yankees hitting coach James Rowson said. 'It's like dynamite in the barrel. His hand speed and quickness reminds me of guys like (Alfonso) Soriano. I want to say (Gary) Sheffield, but he was different. All of those guys had that elite snap in their swing, and Jazz has that.'
Yankees manager Aaron Boone had another comparison for the Yankees second baseman's ability to draw that much power from a slender frame.
'In a lot of ways, his swing reminds me a little bit of — I'm not putting him with Ken Griffey Jr. — but that's who he reminds me of a little bit with how he can loft balls like that,' Boone said.
Judge calls Chisholm a 'game-changer' for the Yankees because of his ability to be a force in the middle of the lineup, but also for what he provides defensively. Chisholm's four outs above average rank sixth among second basemen.
Chisholm, whom the Yankees acquired from the Miami Marlins at last year's trade deadline, created a stat earlier this year so his contributions offensively could rival Judge's. Chisholm thought that if he added his home run and stolen base totals, he might be able to beat the two-time American League MVP. So far, Chisholm has 27 home runs and stolen bases combined to Judge's 41.
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But what he also thought about coming into the 2025 season was what he could do playing a full season on a winning team. He believed he'd be more focused playing high-stakes baseball every day compared to toiling on the rebuilding Marlins. In spring training, Chisholm said he thought that could be the springboard to having a career year.
So far, he's right.
'As soon as I drive in and see that Yankee Stadium sign, I'm already ready to go out of the car,' Chisholm said earlier this year. 'I could go play and run through a wall. Sometimes with Miami, you're going out there like, 'Damn. We're probably going to lose this game.' Yeah, I'm gonna try to get my hits, but at the end of the day, it's like you're going out there and playing for no reason. With the Yankees, I got over here and I felt like every day I was playing for a reason. I was playing for my friends at home that love the Yankees so much and they text me every day, 'You gotta go off today.'
'My goal is to have a full season being on a competitive team that wants to win every day and everybody's all-in every day. Let me see what I do with that. I think it's gonna be career numbers — and not even career numbers like last year — I'm talking about substantially better.'