Yankees Manager Aaron Boone recently defended the strategic use of Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) challenges on 3-0 counts. But at the same time, he also conceded that second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s specific attempt on a pitch right down the middle was a 'very bad challenge'.

"Well, to me, that was leverage," Boone said via Talkin' Yanks on X. "3-0 count is the biggest strike zone count for an umpire that they have."

It happened during the Yankees’ 3-1 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 14. With the game tied 1-1 in the fourth inning, Chisholm took a 3-0 pitch from Kevin Gausman that was clearly in the strike zone. He challenged it anyway, and the call stayed a strike.

"Now, it was a very bad challenge," Boone acknowledged. "Like, let's not bury the lead. Like, I mean, it's right there, full ball in. So... but I don't think that's a terrible time to challenge. A lot of people are like, 'Oh, why would you challenge 3-0? You're still...' like... because you're on base! It ends the at-bat, and that's actually massive."

The Yankees wasted one of their ABS challenges with that. But they eventually won the game later on, with Paul Goldschmidt’s go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth.

Though Chisholm may have passed in Boone's strategic ledger, he did not escape the Yankees’ clubhouse "kangaroo court".

Earlier this season, the players agreed that they would pay a $500 penalty into the team kitty for initiating egregious, clearly incorrect, or wasted challenges.

So, after that bad call in Toronto, MLB.com reporter Bryan Hoch noted, "That’ll cost him[Chisholm] $500 in the Yankees’ kangaroo court."

Chisholm's history of grave mistakes in the ABS Challenge system

Back in April, after a horrendously failed challenge against the Houston Astros, where the pitch crossed the center of the strike zone, Chisholm laughed at his poor choice.

“You just gotta laugh, at that point,” he said, and acknowledged that the mistake was so severe he would voluntarily fine himself $1,000 to do something of value for the team.

And just a night before his 3-0 error last week, Chisholm blew another ABS challenge in the fifth inning in the Yankees' 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays on June 12. At the same at-bat, he had a successful challenge call before blowing one later.

According to Baseball Savant, Chisholm has now lost 11 of his 15 challenges so far this season. Only a handful of players across Major League Baseball, such as James Wood, Josh Naylor, Chase DeLauter, and Trea Turner, have had a worse challenge track record than him.

Read more at the New York Yankees Community!

Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Yash Kotak