Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Getting all Jazzed up about him
Hot prospect Chisholm giving a glimpse of his bright future
JUPITER — Since joining the Marlins organization in July, Jazz Chisholm has made an immediate impression, showcasing the raw potential that’s made him such a coveted prospect.
Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Zac Gallen at the trade deadline, the 21-year-old shortstop nearly hit for the cycle in his first game with Double-A Jacksonville, falling a double shy. In his next 22 games, he continued to flourish, hitting .284/.383/.494 with a stellar 156 wRC+ to end the season.
The 54th overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, the Marlins have plenty riding on Chisholm’s success — and he’s focused on reaching that potential. On Tuesday, the lefthanded-hitting shortstop was in Jupiter with numerous Miami prospects for the team’s hitters camp at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. First-round pick JJ Bleday, Kameron Misner, Jerar Encarnacion and Victor Mesa Jr. were among the other players who took part in the camp.
While the camp was open to the media, it was just another day for Chisholm, who’s spent a large portion of his offseason working at the complex. Receiving instruction from hitting coaches Eric Duncan and Justin Mashore, along with vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo, Chisholm has focused on polishing his swing as he continues to ascend through the organization.
Despite his 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame,
Chisholm possesses serious pop. On the flip side, his strikeout rate over the past few seasons hovered around 32%. In a promising development, that figure dropped to 25% during his 23 games with Jacksonville. He’s tinkered with his swing this offseason to develop a more consistent approach.
“The big thing is cutting down on the swing a little bit and not really letting the immature nature of baseball get inside your head,” Chisholm said. “[I] try to stick with my approach and then I see the pitch and try to hit it 500 feet. So that was basically it for me in the cage.
“I hit with the big guys who’ve got a lot of power like Lewin [Diaz] and Isan [Diaz], who has some pop, and Monte [Harrison], who has pop. I see them hit balls super hard and I just try to stay within myself.
“That’s why I hit with those guys and not try to hit with the guys who are more contact guys. I really want to be able to control myself and know I don’t have to swing at 1,000 percent to hit a ball just as hard as those guys.”
In addition to his strikeout rate dropping with Jacksonville, Chisholm saw his overall numbers jump to end the season. After hitting .204/.305/.427 (112 wRC+) in 89 games with Arizona’s Double-A affiliate last season, the shortstop saw his batting average rise by 80 points while the other figures all took significant leaps.
“It was more of [the team saying] ‘We want you to be a hitter instead of you just trying to hit home runs and over-swinging all the time,’ ” Chisholm said. “It was just like, ‘If you’re a .300 hitter, you can still hit 40 home runs.’ I trust the process with them and it came really naturally with working out with them.”
In addition to the Marlins’ hitting coaches, Chisholm has also received feedback from another key source — Marlins CEO and former star Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
“I’ve learned a lot from Jeter since I’ve been here,” Chisholm said. “I’ve gotten to [see] him a lot. I’ve been to the stadium when they’re playing during the season and he talked to me about a lot of stuff with hitting, baserunning and defense because he was one of the main guys that said they wanted me.
“He really wanted me to work on, ‘Hey, let’s get this going. Let me help you.’ And I’m really there to learn.
“I’ve been watching him play all my life — really watching the Yankees in the Bahamas. There’s only really four teams on the TV — Dodgers, Marlins, Yankees and Red Sox. Just watching him all my career and hearing him tell me things about being a hitter. He was telling me about [Alex Rodriguez] — A-Rod was more of a hitter instead of a home-run hitter. He just had the power to do it. I learned a lot from him and I feel I can build off that.”