Jazz Chisholm Jr. is on the verge of breaking out, and it’s all because of his lucky pants.
Chisholm wore a teammate’s pants for the second straight game and had his best game of the season, going 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs in the New York Yankees‘ 5-2 win in their Subway Series opener against the rival New York Mets on Friday night.
Chisholm has been one of the worst hitters in baseball through the MLB season’s first six weeks. He is slashing just .217/.295/.344 with four home runs through 44 games — his .639 OPS is worse than teammate Ben Rice’s slugging percentage this season.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. Wore Giancarlo Stanton’s Pants on Friday Night
Chisholm, who is dangerously superstitious, went back to the baggy pants by sporting Trent Grisham’s and went 1-3 with a double in New York’s 7-0 getaway-day loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
On Friday, he tried Giancarlo Stanton’s pants, since Stanton is on the injured list since April 29 with a low-grade calf strain. Chisholm had his first multi-hit game since April 26 on the road against the Houston Astros — in a game where he also was wearing baggy pants.
After Friday’s game, Chisholm explained why he chose Stanton’s pants.
“Still a ‘G,’” Chisholm said when asked if he had worn Grisham’s pants. “It works out.”
Chisholm started wearing baggy pants as a way to honor Jackie Robinson about a month ago and went 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored in a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on April 15.
His baggy look was a one-off before he restarted the trend in Houston later in April. Chisholm went 5 for 12 (.417) with four runs scored and five RBIs in a sweep of the Astros.
But for some reason Chisholm ditched the baggy pants again for a more from-fitted variety. The result was Chisholm went 8 for 45 (.177) with 16 strikeouts over a 14-game span in late April and early May.
Jazz Chisholm Did it All for the Yankees on Friday
The Yankees have been looking for a middle-of-the-order bat to pick up some slack with Stanton out of the lineup. Chisholm’s extremely modest 4 for 7 spell is a step in the right direction, especially for a lineup that has been held to one run or fewer in seven of its 17 losses this season.
So if pants are all it takes for Chisholm to become that guy, then the Yankees ought to let him wear whoever’s he wants.
Chisholm was a menace all night Friday. He used his speed to reach on an infield single in the second then his two-out, two-RBI double in the third inning off Mets starter Clay Holmes gave the Yankees a much-needed crooked number, since they had scored just 14 runs over their previous six games.
His fifth-inning walk led to another Yankees run, since Chisholm again used his wheels to score on Spencer Jones’ RBI single in the fifth that pushed them ahead 4-0.
About Chisholm’s only fault came in the ninth inning, when he was picked off by Mets reliever Craig Kimbrel.
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