Before Sunday, the last time Jazz Chisholm Jr. took a swing at a bat owned by Aaron Judge, he ended up straining his oblique muscle. It was a tough moment. He then tried it again during spring training, where he almost faced a similar injury after swinging just as hard as with his lighter bat.
So, after striking out three times earlier in the game, Chisholm rummaged through Judge’s bat bag and picked one to use in the eighth inning. When Red Sox pitcher Joe La Sorsa tossed a sinker that landed on the inside corner, Chisholm, trying to be cautious not to get hurt again, made a more controlled swing—and it turned out to be a three-run homer, helping the Yankees secure a 6–1 win.
“When I picked up his bat, I had a feeling I couldn’t swing with full force or else I’d break it, like last year,” Chisholm reflected. “But it’s all about controlling the barrel and just making contact instead of swinging for the fences too hard.”
He also mentioned there was a moment when he thought he connected well, only to find he had missed. The game changes with a small shift in equipment sometimes—maybe a little more weight is needed in your swing, or perhaps a little less. Chisholm wore Giancarlo Stanton’s pants, which had proven effective early on, while using Judge’s bat, adding a quirky touch to the Yankees’ lineup heading into the game.
Chisholm’s teammates might start lending him their gear if it keeps yielding results like this.
Interestingly, he noted that he had hit another home run with Judge’s bat in just his second game with the Yankees. Judge’s bat is 35 inches long and weighs about 33.5 ounces, whereas Chisholm’s bat measures 34 inches and weighs 31 ounces. He seemed to have made the rounds this season, using nearly every teammate’s bat at least once, with a couple of exceptions, like Stanton’s which seems to be on another level entirely.
“With Jose Caballero’s bat, I think he could still bulk up and really get strong through the zone, like he did in his first three at-bats today,” Chisholm added. “But Cap’s bat? That’s a whole different story.”
