Jazz Chisholm Jr. is unexpected contender for AL lead in a key stat for Yankees

The New York Yankees don't have Aaron Judge tearing it up this season after he was out for much of the year due to injury. Ben Rice has picked up some of the slack, but the overall offense has been underwhelming.

A big reason why is Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is not having a great 2026 season. He has a .226 batting average with a .708 OPS and a 96 OPS+. He's been below-average this season and is one of the main reasons for the Yankees' offensive struggles at times.

But that doesn't mean he's been all terrible. As Jared Greenspan of MLB.com highlighted, Chisholm is actually a top contender for the AL stolen base lead, which is a bit unexpected considering he's not played nearly as well as he has before.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. unexpectedly in contention to win AL stolen base crown

"Meanwhile, Chisholm had notions of a 50-50 season in Spring Training, and while he sure won't hit 50 homers, he may very well swipe 50 bags and took the AL lead on Wednesday," Greenspan writes.

Chisholm, despite a weak .305 on-base percentage that's the 29th worst in MLB this season among qualified hitters, has the stolen base lead in the American League.

Through August 26, Chisholm has 36 stolen bases, one more than Chandler Simpson and Bobby Witt Jr., and five more than Jose Ramirez.

It's unexpected for someone struggling as much as Chisholm is this season offensively to be the league leader in stolen bases. Typically, it requires someone to be on base often to lead the league in steals.

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Witt and Simpson do just that, but Chisholm's .226 batting average and 49 total walks aren't anything impressive. And yet, he leads the league in steals.

He has 36 stolen bases and eight caught stealing. Considering Witt's .288 average and .366 on-base percentage, and one fewer caught stealing, it's impressive that Chisholm even has the AL lead in steals.

Simpson has a .308 batting average and a .336 OBP with blazing speed. His issue, however, is an MLB-worst 14 caught stealing, to go with a long drought without a steal earlier this year.

Chisholm somehow has the AL lead in stolen bases despite not having a good offensive season at all. It's very impressive and is one way he's providing the Yankees with more value than his offensive production otherwise indicates.

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