Jazz Chisholm's baffling defensive choice was the enduring image of Yankees' Game 2 choke

Jazz Chisholm Jr., a free agent at the end of the 2026 season, is a much better baseball player than his most virulent haters believe he is. He's also deeply infuriating, and after 2.5 years spent with him in Yankees pinstripes, there's no reason to entertain pushing the relationship any further.

Though the Yankees lost Monday night's embarrassment for myriad reasons, including errors both mental and physical, the enduring image of the game will be one of two Chisholm Jr. misplays.

In the first inning, Chisholm Jr. tried to be heroic in the vein of Austin Wells trying to stretch a double into a triple for no apparent reason. We should've seen it coming; Chisholm Jr. sweetly defended Wells after the opener, then tried to do the exact same thing himself on the defensive side of the ball the very next game. His absurd overthrow on a no-chance double play pivot in the bottom of the first gave the Rays their only run against a rattled and stressed Cam Schlittler through the first four frames.

But that's not the emblematic Chisholm Jr. play I'm talking about. The one I'll never forget was far more inexplicable, and much more closely aligned with the Yankees' regular brand of baseball.

With runners on second and third and nobody out in the fifth, Schlittler gasping for air, catcher Liam Hicks chopped a slow roller to second base. Could Chisholm Jr. have recorded the out at the plate to keep the game tied? Maybe. It would've been tight, even with slow-footed Jonathan Aranda running.

Unfortunately, he gave himself absolutely no chance, as the only member of the Yankees' infield who was not playing in at the time.

Or, as someone who was actually on the field the last time the Yankees won a title, carried by their keen fundamentals and commitment to outclassing their opponents, put it:

2009 Yankees champion Joba Chamberlain calls out Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s baffling defense

In Game 4 of the 2009 World Series, Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon stole two bases at once thanks to his exceptional awareness, popping up at second base and sprinting to an unoccupied third.

In Game 2 of the 2026 ALDS, Jazz Chisholm Jr. saw a tie game in a ballpark built for his opponent, looked up and down the Yankees' fetid lineup, and took too long thinking about these things to remember to come in to prevent a run on a soft grounder.

The Yankees allowed three more runs in the inning afterwards. The sun set on 2009 a very long time ago.

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