Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s baserunning prowess is a double-edged sword for the Yankees

Jazz Chisholm Jr. had finally started changing the narrative regarding his season, with promising second-half signs culminating in a hot start to September. While his play at the plate has been up and down throughout the year, one area where he's been excellent from start to finish for the New York Yankees has been his baserunning.

Chisholm Jr. suffered through an IL with a sprained thumb at a frustrating time, and the Yankees temporarily missed his presence on the bases. Thankfully, he's back and ready to continue sowing more chaos as October looms. The obvious benefit the 28-year-old brings to the bases is his 41 steals, but the impact he makes goes well beyond that.

Per Baseball Savant's baserunning runs metric, Chisholm Jr. is one of the most elite players in the game in terms of comprehensive baserunning. Including steals of both second and third as well as the ability to take the extra base (via hits, tag ups, etc.), Chisholm Jr. is tied for third in the majors with six baserunning runs.

He isn't always known for being the most thoughtful player, so it's surprising that among the league's leaders, he's one of the more conservative players when it comes to taking the extra base. But when he does, he's deadly effective. He's only attempted to an additional base 32 times, but he's been successful at it 100% of the time.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s base-running performance is a rarity on the Yankees roster

Baserunning in baseball is like special teams in football. Most of the time, it doesn't catch fans' attention unless it's bad — and when it's bad, it can be catastrophic. Case in point was Amed Rosario failing to take advantage of Ceddanne Rafaela's misplay on a Heliot Ramos fly ball against the Red Sox on Aug. 29. Rosario misread the ball and then compounded the issue by getting thrown out at home.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Yankees aren't anywhere near as good as Jazz. While New York entered his IL stint with the sixth-most stolen bases in the league with 137, the team isn't always efficient, getting caught with the second-most frequency (47).

As for taking the extra base, again, no one on the roster is in Jazz's class. Overall, the Yankees as a team rank 21st, with -3 baserunning runs. Spencer Jones, Anthony Volpe, Jose Caballero, and Ben Rice are all net-zero runners. The Yanks no longer have a single additional runner who's posted positive value on the bases, meaning if it weren't for Chisholm Jr., this would be a bottom-ranked team.

We've reached the point in the season where every game matters. New York won half its battle for seeding, unable to complete the Herculean effort of catching the Rays for the AL East crown, but still keeping homefield over the Red Sox in the name of making a deep October run.

That will be made harder without Chisholm Jr. in the lineup, and the Yankees better hope that he feels like himself in time for the postseason, because if not, the performance on the bases could prove costly.

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