Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. alters batting stance, clubs first home run

Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. alters batting stance, clubs first home run originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Jazz Chisolm Jr. likes to talk.

The New York Yankees second baseman possesses an electric personality, backed by power potential. In February, the seven-year major leaguer boasted of hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases.

Chisolm needs to play catch-up after connecting on his first homer Thursday, 23 games into the campaign. He's on pace for seven homers this season.

Good thing for the Yankees, Chisolm elected to listen.

Yankees' Jazz Chisolm Jr. displays delayed power

After enduring 20 games without a multi-hit game -- or a homer -- Chisolm and the batting coaches continued analyzing his approach and swing.

The results indicated that he was backing away during plate appearances, leading to pop-ups rather than line drives.

Chisolm finished 2-for-4 Thursday, raising his OPS from .498 to .556 during the three-game sweep over the host Boston Red Sox. Entering Friday's matchup against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park, he was hitting .188 with eight stolen bases.

Chisolm adopted a more closed-off batting stance, paying immediate dividends. In the fifth inning Thursday, Chisolm connected on a fifth-inning homer off Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle, leading the Yankees to a 4-2 victory at Fenway Park.