The Yankees and Red Sox found themselves in a heavyweight fight on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered the knockout punch for New York in a 9-6 victory. It was a game in which Chisholm went 3-for-5 with a homer, four RBIs and two stolen bases.

In fact, it was Chisholm that put the spark into the offense in the first inning by hitting a three-run bomb over the center field wall against Red Sox right-hander Walker Buehler. An inning later, Chisholm drove in his fourth run of the game with a single over the head of first baseman Abraham Toro.

Since coming off the Injured List on Tuesday, Chisholm came back ready to go, going 8-for-16 [.500] with two bombs and six RBIs and raising his batting average from .194 to .223. As he put it, he is playing baseball and having fun again.

“He is using the whole field. He is a game changer,” teammate Aaron Judge said about Chisholm. “The guy can steal bases, put the ball in play. The guy is on base in a big spot and he came up with a big homer. That’s why we traded for him. He can change a game with one swing or one play.”

 

Why is Chisholm better at the plate? While doing his rehab stint with Double A Somerset, he discovered how to get better results. It seems weird but he said he goes all out at 70 percent.

Say what?

Most players say they go all out at 100 percent, but 70 percent? Chisholm and the coaching staff at Summerset told him not to overswing in the batter’s box. In essence, they told him to work smarter, not harder. They noticed that when he was in the Marlins’ Minor League system, the coaches noticed that Chisholm’s swing was effortless. Chisholm agreed with the assessment given to him.

“I’ve been told all my life that I needed to tone down the way I play. It’s electric, but you can be electric while being in control at the same time” Chisholm said. “My 70 percent running is probably faster than a lot of guys in the league… That’s all I knew. Play at a hundred percent, swing at a hundred percent, throw at a hundred percent. At the same time, if I stay fundamentally sound at 70 percent, I’m a pretty good player, I feel like.”

In his first game off the IL, Chisholm hit an effortless home run against Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee to give New York a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning.

“Like my coach, Six [Yankees assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler], said, ‘70 percent,’ I’m one of the best out there. At a hundred percent, I might be dog crap as you can tell. I was hitting .170 [actually .194] at a hundred percent. We are going to take 70 percent,” Chisholm said. … When you believe in something and it feels so right, you can’t go wrong with it.”

The Yankees are hoping the feeling at the plate stays that way for Chisholm the rest of the season.