Terrible, unexpected, mediocre, or however you may phrase it, this was how Jazz Chisholm Jr. performed in the 2025 Home Run Derby. With just three home runs under his name, the Yankees slugger finished last on Monday night’s home run fest at Truist Park. In an exhibition built for hitters to shine, Chisholm’s bat fell silent. Surely, it was a surprising twist, one that didn’t match the energy he brought to the ballpark. Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post even went on to say that “200 percent of Jazz Chisholm Jr. would not have been enough.”

Cal Raleigh, who is having his career-best season, smashed 18 home runs on that night was way ahead of the Yankees slugger in the home run tussle. While many assumed the Yankees’ star to fight for the $1 million prize, the competition ended up being a two-horse race between Raleigh and Junior Caminero, who also launched 15 moonshots.

And Chisholm? If there’s one thing we know about him, it’s to expect the unexpected from him. Even after a forgettable night, the 27-year-old stayed unapologetically himself.

When asked if he would participate again next year, Chisholm Jr. said, “If I get more than 20 homers by the half next year, I’ll do it again and actually try to hit homers every swing.” He further added, “It wasn’t that I wasn’t trying to hit homers. I was trying to keep my swing and hit homers instead of just trying to hit everything in the air. I was trying to keep my line drive swing and hit homers. But you know, it gets better.” And that’s classic Chisholm with his trademark flamboyance.

It looked like Chisholm was just sticking with the swing that’s been working so well for him all season. Well, the Home Run Derby is a whole different beast. The pitches come in slower, making it easier for hitters to square up the ball, and the whole idea is to add loft and go as many yards as often as possible. But for the Yankees slugger, if it’s working fine, don’t fix it.

Sure, his regular swing might not have been ideal for the Derby, but that’s not what really matters. What matters more to him is contributing to the Yankees’ AL East title run. Currently, he’s hitting .250 and 17 HRs, but since coming off the IL, he has slashed 10 homers and 26 RBIs. So really, there’s no reason for him to change what’s working.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. might have offered one of the worst derby performances ever

In the process of preserving his swing, Chisholm ended up on the wrong side of Home Run Derby history. Notably, Chisholm managed just three home runs in the Derby. And that’s easily the lowest total in over a decade. The night saw him ranked last among all the participants. Imagine the extent of collapse for Chisholm when the next player above him scored 16 HRs!

In the earlier days of the Derby, numbers like that weren’t unusual, but now most guys are expected to hit double digits in each round. Since the Derby started in 1985, there have actually been 19 players who didn’t hit a single homer. While Chisholm took 3 HRs, it was the weakest since 2014, when Yasiel Puig didn’t hit any and Brian Dozier only managed two.

Still, at least Chisholm Jr. avoided joining that zero-club, even if it wasn’t the night he had hoped for. So, the 2025 All-Star festivities didn’t start as expected for Chisholm. In the main event, the pitching will be more typical of the regular season, so he shouldn’t need to alter his swing to get his hits. Nevertheless, All-Star stats obviously won’t impact the Yankees in any way, but Chisholm surely doesn’t want to stay on the wrong side of Derby history. At least when it comes to his performance in the mid-summer classic.