Last February, Jazz Chisholm had a rather aggressive target for 2026. He achieved a 30-30 season last year and boasted about having a 50-50 potential this year. However, things didn’t go as planned since the opening day. After playing 42 games this year, he is hitting .200 and has managed only 4 homers.

No wonder things are unraveling fast for the swanky slugger, and the uncertainty surrounding his future is only adding to the pressure. The Yankees, with their current 27-16 record, may be comfortable holding off a slumping Chisholm, but he knows what it means to have a .200 average in a rental year.

“Everybody gets frustrated with their performance when they’re not doing well,” Chisholm said. “Right now, I’m not swinging well.”

Till now, 2026 has proved nothing right for Chisholm in terms of both offense and defense. Despite admitting that he is “working my b— off every day to get back,” he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Monday.

During his 30-30 season last year, Chisholm had a 15% barrel rate, which was ranked in the 91st percentile. This year, it went down to 6% that ranks in the 31st percentile. So, either Chisholm is not achieving the desired exit velocity, or he is not hitting a perfect launch angle. Additionally, his expected wOBA last year was .346, which came down to .262 currently. Lastly, Chisholm is slugging .310 currently, which was .481 last year.

This sums up the sad picture of Jazz Chisholm’s struggle. The worst part now is that he is on a rental with the Yankees. He is presently on a one-year, $10.2 million contract and will hit free agency after this season. “I know I can get $35 million somewhere else,” Chisholm once said about his expectations of a new contract.

It is highly probable that with such expectations, Chisholm’s numbers are taking a toll. “No, not right now,” he disagrees. “It’s still pretty early for that. But right now, all I want to do is help my team win. When you feel like you’re not doing that and you’re not helping, especially with the bat … it sucks.”

While Chisholm disagrees that his contract expectation is not currently on his mind, we wonder if his current numbers could help him fetch an extended offer from the Yankees, let alone a $35 million AAV deal. For reference, Trent Grisham signed a qualifying offer of $22 million after hitting 34 HRs at 235.

“You have high expectations, and obviously, he’s an outstanding player… Probably pressing a little too much, trying to do a little too much. He’s gonna get it going, I do not doubt that,” Boone said.

The Yankees front office is still hopeful, and Jazz Chisholm’s probable meteoric rise in the second half of this season could still make a deal. However, his slow start is not the ideal picture someone should have in their contract year. Additionally, Chisholm’s fielding blunders are making things worse.

Jazz Chisholm’s terrible defense is complicating the issue

Chisholm is not done by struggling at the plate only, but some fielding gaffes are adding up in his contract year.

In a game against the Marlins last month, Otto Lopez hit a routine, slow ground ball directly toward second base in the ninth. However, rather than charging the baseball to secure a quick out, Chisholm played back, waited for the bounce, and casually threw a slow ball over to Ben Rice at first base. As a result, Lopez outran the slow throw for an infield single, which extended the inning.

Then again, in a game against the Astros, Chisholm triggered an ABS review on a 3-2 pitch. Statcast tracking showed the ball crossed the absolute dead-center of the strike zone, leading to loud boos from the stadium and mockery from commentators. “You just gotta laugh, at that point,” Chisholm said.

Thus, despite his baseline defensive range being highly explosive (97th percentile in Statcast’s Outfield/Infield Range OAA), Chisholm has committed a few costly mental lapses on routine plays during high-leverage frames. In this contract year, those are surely not helpful.