BOSTON — Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked into Fenway Park on Thursday with a lot to prove. Twenty-three games into the season, he still had zero home runs. His slash line sat at .188. And he had told everyone back in spring training that he planned to hit 50 homers this year.
That gap between promise and reality had become hard to ignore. Even Chisholm knew it.
So he made a small change before stepping in against Boston rookie Payton Tolle in the fifth inning. He backed away from the plate. He closed his stance. It was a quiet fix. And it worked.
The stance tweak that broke a 23-game drought
Chisholm pulled a 95 mph fastball just inside the Pesky Pole in right field. The ball traveled 333 feet. It was the shortest home run of his big-league career. Exit velocity was 98 mph. He was not fooled on the pitch. He just barely kept it fair.
The shot tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth. It was his first home run of 2026.
After the game, Chisholm explained what he had been working on. The Yankees second baseman had noticed over the previous days that he was flaring balls to left rather than driving them. His setup was too open. He was crowding the plate.
“I feel like I’ve been opening a little bit, and I feel like that helped me close up a little bit and just backing off [the plate],” Chisholm said after the 4-2 Yankees win.
It was a simple fix. But it had taken him more than three weeks to find it.
His best stretch of the season came at the right time
The homer was not the only bright spot Thursday. Chisholm went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. He singled hard to center off Danny Coulombe in the seventh. He handled three different left-handed pitchers in the same game.
That last part stood out to manager Aaron Boone. All season, the Yankees had watched Chisholm struggle against left-handed pitching. Seeing him take on multiple lefties in one night and hold his own was notable.
“Probably his best group of at-bats, especially off some tough lefty matchups there,” Boone said. “So good to see that.”
It was also Chisholm’s second multi-hit game in three days. That matters because he had gone his first 21 games without recording more than one hit in any single contest. Over the three-game sweep at Fenway, his OPS climbed from .498 to .556.
Not great numbers. But moving in the right direction.
The numbers still demand more from Chisholm
One homer in 24 games is a rough start for a player chasing 50. At this pace, Chisholm is not close to that goal. His current slash line of .188/.274/.282 reflects a hitter still searching for his form.
The Yankees and their fans want more from Chisholm, and the numbers make clear why. The contract year adds another layer of urgency. Chisholm signed a one-year, $10.2 million deal to avoid arbitration and will reach free agency after this season. A slow start is not the foundation he needed heading into that market.
The 50-homer goal is now a mathematical long shot. At his current pace, reaching even half that total before October would require a dramatic surge.
When asked directly whether the homerless stretch had been nagging at him, Chisholm smiled and gave an honest answer. “I wouldn’t say home runs was on my mind, it would be hits,” he said.
He acknowledged, though, that the breakthrough felt good. “I tend to have a couple problems early in the season,” Chisholm said. “But at the end of the day, it feels good to finally get one [homer] in there.”
Yankees are counting on history to repeat itself
There is one reason for optimism. April last season was Chisholm’s worst month. He worked through it and went on to make the All-Star team. The Yankees are hoping that same pattern plays out in 2026.
Whether a stance adjustment is the breakthrough or simply a one-night fix remains to be seen. What is certain is that the Yankees need their second baseman producing at a far higher level as the division race intensifies. Thursday gave Chisholm, his teammates, and the Yankees coaching staff a reason to exhale.
The talent is not in question. The consistency is. One home run will not silence the doubters on its own. But it gives the Yankees and their second baseman something to build on.
The power concerns are not gone. But for one night in Boston, they at least went quiet.
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