Jazz Chisholm responds to ducking media, Yankees' struggles after night on bench

After a brief moment where it looked like his bat was coming alive, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is lost at the plate yet again. That's bad in and of itself, but after an 0-for-4 night at the plate in which he struck out three times in the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, he ducked out on talking to the media and facing his struggles head-on.

On May 12, he addressed his lack of accountability. Sort of. Chisholm said he was "frustrated" to be struggling, adding, "All I want to do is help my team win." He's done very little to actually help add W's to the board recently, and shirking accountability is the furthest thing from making that happen.

As a result of his malfeasance, Aaron Boone gave him the night off on Tuesday, but did call on him to pinch hit for Amed Rosario in the top of the eighth, with the Yankees leading 6-2. Boone said it would only be one night off instead of an extended benching for the scuffling second baseman. That's not nearly enough to get the message across.

Aaron Boone and the Yankees need to take a much firmer hand with Jazz Chisholm Jr.

First and foremost, this is New York, where there are expectations, and accountability is a requirement. Jazz might have been able to get away with avoiding the media in Miami when he was a member of the Marlins, but that should be a non-starter here.

It can be tough for a player who is struggling at the plate, but Chisholm hasn't helped himself either. His defense has at times been shoddy, with -3 defensive runs saved on his ledger so far this season. And how about last month, when he didn't know the rules when he bobbled away the Yankees' chances against the Tampa Bay Rays? That is unforgivable and has nothing to do with being cold at the plate.

A month ago, he waved away his poor start as simply a byproduct of the early-season cold weather. That was a flimsy excuse at the time, and one that no longer holds water as the temperatures rise in the Bronx.

Sometimes, small sample noise and bad luck can wreak havoc on a player's line, while what's going on under the hood proves that skidding out of the gate has been nothing more than simple bad luck. As time rolls on, we typically see those players balance things out and perform as expected.

But as Chris Kirschner notes in his piece for The Athletic (subscription required), that isn't the case for Chisholm Jr., as only five batters have hit underneath the ball more than he has this season.

Jazz is slashing .200/.280/.320 while striking out at a 29.2% clip. The expected stats are even worse, pegging him at a .186 xBA and a .310 xSLG that combine for a .262 xwOBA, even lower than his pitiful .274 mark.

After proclaiming that he was going to be the player to join Shohei Ohtani in the 50-50 club, it's clear that he's selling out to hit home runs at the expense of everything else just to back up his ridiculous claim. When you combine that with the fact that the free-agent-to-be stated he'd be looking for a $300 million contract this coming offseason, it's easy to see that he alone put the current target on his back.

It's worth wondering if the Yankees should have traded him over the offseason, as the rumors suggested. We're too little too late on that end now, but it's a worthwhile thought exercise.

In the midst of all of this, what is clear is that he should have been sat down for performance reasons a while ago. Instead, the Yankees were lenient and allowed him the runway to work out of his slump, which is a grace that he's done nothing with. But now, his refusal to face the music and deal with the heat that he turned up on himself should be the last straw.

Boone and the Yankees won't do this, but they should. Chisholm Jr. needs a wake-up call, and a prolonged benching might be the only way to give it to him.

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