NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 10: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees looks on during the game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, August 10, 2024 in New York, New York. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The New York Yankees had some clear strengths this past season, but some weaknesses were apparent as well.
The team served as Major League Baseball’s leader for total home runs, RBI and slugging percentage as the batting order emphasized power behind another stellar season from franchise superstar Aaron Judge. But the Yankees also committed the seventh most errors in MLB with one of the big leagues’ worst fielding percentages.
Ultimately, those defensive shortcomings seemed to derail the Yankees’ quest for another World Series championship as they fell to the fundamentally sound Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs. And in retrospect, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged some regret in asking star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. to play a challenging position this year in a recent episode of “Talkin Yanks” posted on YouTube.
“(Anthony) Volpe went through a tough stretch obviously there in the middle of the season defensively and I think it kind of snowballed even a little bit with Jazz,” Boone said of a midsummer series against the Blue Jays that saw Chisholm take over at third base to fill in for an injured DJ LeMahieu, during the episode. “It became a little bit of mentally a tough stretch for us.”
During that series, it was clear that Chisholm, who is generally considered a good defender at his typical position of second base, was struggling at the hot corner. At the time, Chisholm was clear about how he saw the new role.
“Yes, I know I’m a second baseman,” he said, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “Yes, I know I’m better at second base, but at the end of the day, I still have to play third. I just have to deal with it.”
The Yankees moved Chisholm so that LeMahieu could nurse an injury while playing second base. Ultimately, the team released LeMahieu and traded for third baseman Ryan McMahon so it could move Chisholm back to second.
But looking back on that stretch of the season with some regret, Boone didn’t mince words about Chisholm’s performance at third base.
“I don’t think he was good in that last week leading up, when he made some mistakes,” Boone said during the “Talkin’ Yanks” segment.
During the Blue Jays series that saw Chisholm and LeMahieu moved, Boone was a little more defensive about his players’ abilities to switch positions. But now, with the benefit of some hindsight, it seems he is willing to acknowledge that placing Chisholm in the hot corner resulted in some poor play. And that might mean that it’s something the manager won’t be doing again.