In the top of the second inning on Saturday, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. became the latest Bomber to make an unthinkable base running mistake. With one out, Paul Goldschmidt hit a pop-up to Miami Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards. As the ball settled into Edwards’ glove, Chisholm was standing well off the bag at first, flat-footed and completely unprepared for Edwards to fire the ball behind him and complete an inning-ending double play.
Later in the game, YES Network broadcasters Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill discussed Bombers manager Aaron Boone’s refusal to yank players who make boneheaded mistakes from games. O’Neill concluded that Boone’s soft approach is best, because pulling Chisholm’s bat out of the lineup could hurt the team.
O’Neill is dead wrong. Boone’s coddling clearly isn’t working. The Yankees have been a clown show of late.
Shortstop Anthony Volpe has been committing game-changing errors in bunches. Austin Wells forgot how many outs there were and was tagged out just strolling off second base in the ninth inning of a recent game against the Tampa Bay Rays. And in the first inning on Saturday, Trent Grisham was thrown out at home by about a mile attempting to score on a Giancarlo Stanton laser into short left field.
Boone was caught on camera yelling at first base coach Travis Chapman following Chisholm’s base-running faux pas. That’s a step in the right direction for Boone, but it’s not enough. Chisholm should’ve been pulled from the game immediately to let every player on the team know that lapses in focus won’t be tolerated.
Sure, the Yankees might have missed Chisholm’s bat for one game. But in the long run, the team would be better for it, as the players work to avoid silly mistakes for fear of riding the bench.
Fans can accept when their team gets outplayed. However, they’ll become extremely frustrated when their team displays a consistent lack of effort.
The Yankees’ median ticket price is $105, good for ninth among all MLB teams. To watch every game, many fans have to invest in three or more streaming services, as the Yankees rake in cash from the likes of Amazon and Apple. It’s incumbent upon Boone and his bosses to put the best possible product on the field to give fans some return on their investment. But if they continue tolerating mindless errors, the Yankees won’t be worth the price of admission.
