New York Yankees‘ second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. is catching a lot of flak around the MLB community for his extra-innings blunder Saturday night, which led to the Rays earning the series win, and the Yankees losing their fourth straight game.
Chisholm Jr. himself owned up to the incident, where he fumbled the ball and was unable to complete an out on the play, which allowed the Rays to walk off the Yankees.
Jazz said this to reporters after the game: âI was really going to go try to tag the runner and just throw it to first. I donât know what the rule is. If I went to first base first and threw it back to second, if itâs still an out. Is it still a double play? I donât know. Does it count as not an RBI?â
Before the Yankees series finale with the Rays, manager Aaron Boone got the chance to talk to reporters about the play and Chisholm’s overall level of play.
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Yankees’ Manager Aaron Boone Backs Jazz Chisholm Jr.
GettyNEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 03: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees scores after Aaron Judge is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second inning against the Miami Marlins during the home opener at Yankee Stadium on April 03, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
While speaking with Yankees reporters before the Rays game on Sunday afternoon, Aaron Boone had this to say about Jazz:
“We’ll talk. He’s not confused. I think that’s his kind of default answer when he’s got (reporters) in front of him. It turns out to be a tough play. Watching it back, there might have been a chance if he gets it cleanly, he gets the tag off. It’s hard to know how exactly DÃaz reacts in that moment. Once it chops like that, it’s obviously going to be a tough one to turn the normal 4-6-3.”
He then backed Jazz again by saying he obviously knows the rules, and then clears the air on people/fans calling him a ‘dumb’ player.
“I think part of it comes to answering those things in a better way. You guys are around Jazz. He’s not a dumb guy. It’s just sometimes how you present yourself in certain situations, and coupled with he’s off to a little bit of a slow start.”
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Jazz Chisholm Jr. is Off to a Slow Start to Season
Yankees fans will try to use Jazz as a scapegoat for other problems that the team has, and while it’s true Chisholm is off to a pretty slow start to the season (0 home runs), there’s a lot of baseball left, and what the Yankees really need is a surging offensive output to get everyone back on the right track.
In 14 games this season, Chisholm Jr. has a -0.3 bWAR and is hitting just .173 with three RBI, and an OPS of .483.
This is a situation where the team should rally around Jazz, who is in the midst of a contract year.
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