The New York Yankees third baseman, Jazz Chisholm Jr., was ejected for the second time this season for arguing a strike call. The ejection occurred before the bottom of the ninth inning in Tuesday night’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds, in 11 innings, with a score of 5-4. Home plate umpire Mark Wegner made the decision after a pitch by Lyon Richardson that Chisholm believed was low in the zone, with a count of 2-0. Chisholm, after being struck out, continued arguing after leaving the batter’s box. Yankees captain Aaron Judge approached Chisholm as he headed to third base for the ninth inning. According to Chisholm himself, he was talking to himself when Wegner told him to stop. The umpire proceeded to eject him.
“I looked at him and said, ‘Why are you looking at me?’ And that’s when I got ejected. I didn’t get ejected for saying anything crazy. I didn’t get ejected for saying, ‘Oh, that was a bad pitch.’ I got ejected for saying, ‘Why are you looking at me?’ I don’t think that’s a good reason to eject anyone,” Chisholm explained.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.Previously, Chisholm was ejected in the 6-3 victory over Tampa Bay on April 17, also for arguing a called strike by umpire John Bacon. The next day, he was suspended for one game and fined by Major League Baseball, which cited his conduct and the violation of MLB’s social media policy for posting online criticism during the game. The suspension was later withdrawn. Chisholm acknowledged that he needs to improve his control of his emotions.Manager Aaron Boone tried to calm the situation and held Chisholm back to prevent him from approaching Wegner.“That’s why I’m upset, because I wasn’t talking to the umpire. I didn’t even have anything to say to you because I know if I had something to say, I was going to get ejected,” he added.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.The ejection forced Oswald Peraza to advance to third base and DJ LeMahieu to enter to play second base. The Yankees have lost the first two games of the series against the Reds and have nine losses in their last 12 games. New York (45-34) has seen its lead in the American League East Division over Tampa Bay reduced to a single game. “We have to play better. We have a lot of winners in the clubhouse. You guys asked the same question last year. We have to figure it out,” said Aaron Judge.“Obviously, Jazz didn’t like the 2-0 call, some words at home played within the at-bat, and then Jazz came out and says he wasn’t saying anything to Mark Wegner. And Mark was looking at him and ends up throwing them out. It’s not a great situation”, Boone commented.
Aaron Boone
