The New York Yankees are scuffling, and lately it seems as though things that never happen to the other 29 Major League Baseball teams happen frequently to them.
The latest example came on Saturday in the Yankees’ 2-0 loss to the Miami Marlins. With Jazz Chisholm Jr. on first base and one out in the top of the second inning, Paul Goldschmidt popped up to Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards.
It looked for all the world like a routine pop-up. But as Edwards caught the ball, he quickly shuffled his feet and fired to first base, beating a diving Chisholm by a split second for an astounding double play.
To most Yankees fans, it was the kind of mistake that simply can’t happen, and the kind the Yankees have been making far too often. But Chisholm seemingly insisted afterward that he hadn’t done anything “wrong,” per se.
“I was just trying to be aggressive, already playing with both the middle infielders out there,” Chisholm said, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “I saw something that I thought they were going to do. He deked it like he was going to do it. He didn’t do it.
“Still trying to be aggressive because I played here before. I know how the field plays. Sometimes you get aggressive and you get caught up and you make an out.”
“Would you do it differently next time, now knowing what you know?” Chisholm was asked as a follow-up (via Talkin’ Yanks on X).
“No,” Chisholm responded.
The whole incident is fuel to the fire for Yankees fans who question the team’s urgency, baseball acumen, or attention to details. And the fact that Chisholm wasn’t punished (manager Aaron Boone took him out of sight for a conversation after the inning), only worsens the optics.
More MLB: Red Sox Open Intriguing New Path For Fan-Favorite Prospect To Reach MLB
The post Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. Has Defiant Response to Viral Baserunning Blunder appeared first on Newsweek.
