Jazz Chisholm's mid-game Blow Pop creates bizarre Yankees narrative at edge of swoon

With the Yankees sitting pretty at 10-5 during a should-have-been-difficult stretch, it felt like every fan had the same realization at identical times. "Wow, we avoided the June Swoon this year! (checks calendar) Oh, there's ... pretty much exactly the amount of time left in the month needed to crush the vibes like a grape."

Lo and behold, the Yankees are suddenly teetering, losing a blowout and a Chase Burns mismatch to the Reds, entering a road week in Detroit and Boston on a sour note. The Tigers entered this set 11 games under .500, but with the AL's best record in June. They planned to throw three All-Star-caliber arms in Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, and Tarik Skubal (of course). Boston? They've been brutal, but they're Boston, and they can also toss a quality arm at you every single night. Very quickly, we'd know whether the undermanned Yankees had what it took to tread water a bit longer, or whether they'd be dipping further and reinforcing some fraidy-cat narratives.

Monday? Not a good start!

Gerrit Cole, pushed back a day, had next to nothing and struggled to record the final out of the third. The Yankees fell 5-3, a closer final score than the experience of watching the game probably deserved. The defense was out of position by design; Jose Caballero took a circuitous rout to the triple that eventually opened the floodgates, and Kevin McGonigle lined a double-wait-he's-on-third down the left field line that was also fumbled into a run. And, on top of everything, there was even a lasting image to spark fans' hatred for their own roster: Jazz Chisholm Jr. enjoying a mid-game Blow Pop on the field while the Yankees melted.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s Blow Pop is the stupidest Yankees symbol

Is this the most important thing that ever happened? What if I said, "Yes. It is." It's not. But is it okay with everyone to strike a middle ground here? This wasn't some grand offense, even though it would make Honus Wagner drink tobacco. But it wasn't exactly a good look. It doesn't scream "locked in". Yankees fans want to see this team, known for midsummer dips where they go from "contender" to "Quad-A," lock in a little bit and stabilize before the seas get too choppy.

Right now, they're on the absolute borderline between a couple sleepy regular-season losses and something they'll get rightly pilloried for (with a Boston trip on the horizon, and with the Blue Jays suddenly back to .500 and within shouting distance in the division).

Should Jazz become Luis Arraez next week because he likes lollipops? Ideally not. But combine this laissez-faire clip with his atrocious .571 OPS with RISP, and unfortunately you have a story. A week ago — four days ago! — we were writing about how well the Yankees were not only surviving without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham, but somehow thriving offensively.

Now, like a magnet compelled to fly across the room and succumb to entropy, we're writing about how the Yankees' malaise is helpfully symbolized by a mid-game candy on a stick. Make it lolli-stop.

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