Jazz Chisholm Jr. Not Knowing Basic MLB Rule Says a Lot About the Yankees

The Yankees were walked off on Saturday night, thanks to a colossal mistake from second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.

With one out in the 10th inning and the bases loaded, the Rays hit a ground ball to Chisholm, who needed to turn two in order to force an 11th inning. The ball was hit in a way that Chisholm would’ve been able to tag Yandy Díaz running to second and then throw the ball to first for a double play, but he bobbled it and was unable to make the play, resulting in Tampa Bay scoring the game-winning run.

Jazz could've tagged Diaz and thrown to first for the double play. Instead he bobbles the ball and the Rays walk it off pic.twitter.com/1ij5OyebPQ
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 12, 2026

After the game, Chisholm told reporters his thought process on the final play and made a rather glaring admission about his lack of understanding of some pretty simple MLB rules.

“I was really gonna tag the runner and throw it to first. I don't know what the rule is, if I went to first base first and threw it back to second if it's an out. Is it still a double play? I don't know. Does it count as not an RBI?”

Sitting next to Chisholm in the locker room was Trent Grisham, who answered his teammate’s question by explaining that the runner would’ve scored if Chisholm threw to first base before securing the out at second.

“They’ll score,” Grisham said. “They’ll get there before the ball.”

Grisham, who has never played a single inning in the infield in his entire career, was more well-versed with the rulebook than Chisholm, who ended up having the game in his hands. In short, there’s simply no excuse for Chisholm not being aware of the situation and what was potentially at stake dependent upon the decisions he made. The fact that a runner is safe if they score before the final out of the inning, unless it’s a force out, is something that’s taught in Little League. Chisholm having a full understanding of the situation should be a prerequisite to play second base in MLB, and his lack of awareness on Saturday night cost New York a chance to win the game.

Fundamentals have been an issue that have come up in big spots for the Yankees over the past few years. Chisholm’s error on Saturday night was just the latest.

Who could forget the infamous fifth inning in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, in which five unearned runs came across to score thanks to come costly defensive mishaps. Aaron Judge failed to make a routine catch on a fly ball. Anthony Volpe misplayed a ground ball at shortstop, and Gerrit Cole was caught sleeping when he was meant to be covering first base. Those kinds of mistakes simply cannot be tolerated, yet they continually haunt the Yankees year after year.

Last season, during a three-game July series against the Blue Jays, New York made a total of seven errors, including four errors in one game. As Aaron Boone often says when the team struggles, the Yankees manager told reporters that the team needed to “tighten it up.” Nine months later, and the defense seems as loose and lackadaisical as ever.

Whether it’s lack of practicing basics, not enough education on situational baseball, or simply an inexcusable lapse in judgement from Chisholm, the bottom line is things haven’t improved since the team made several such mistakes on the biggest stage in baseball, an indication they haven’t actually prioritized cleaning up their fundamentals.

Last season, the Yankees had 94 errors, which ranked as the seventh-most in MLB. In 2024, they had 93, which also ranked seventh. That doesn’t look like evidence of improvement. Hitting home runs is great. The Yankees excel at that––they’ve led the league in the category in each of the last two years. But when that power at the plate comes at the expense of basic, fundamental defense, there is a real, real problem.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Boone addressed Chisholm’s costly mistake, saying, “We'll talk. He’s not confused. I think that’s his default answer when he’s got guys in front of him... I think he knows the rule.”

Hopefully, Boone’s talk with Chisholm comes with a detailed explanation of MLB rules, because not knowing what to do in that situation is completely unacceptable.

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