The Yankees suffered yet another loss on Tuesday, allowing the rising Blue Jays to pull within one game in the AL East race.
The Yanks had a lead in Tuesday’s game, but things started to unravel once Davis Schneider hit a slow roller to third base. Jazz Chisholm charged, fielded, and fired, but the throw was up the line, allowing Schneider to reach. An accurate throw would have ended the inning, but instead, two batters later, the light-hitting Andres Gimenez smacked a three-run home run off Max Fried, sending the Yanks on their way to another defeat.
Tuesday’s loss was Chisholm’s 24th start at the hot corner this season, and just the 69th of his career. For comparison, he has made 185 starts at second base, where he is more comfortable in the infield. But the Yanks have instead played the aging DJ LeMahieu at second and Chisholm at the hot corner, though Aaron Boone may have suggested that a change could be on the way.
“We'll talk through all that stuff,” Boone said when asked about a potential infield shuffle after Tuesday’s game.
As for Chisholm, he told The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner that he had been spending the offseason working at second base, his more natural position, and he didn’t hide the fact that the hot corner has been an adjustment.
“Everybody knows I’m a second baseman,” Chisholm told Kirschner. “Of course, I want to play second base, but whatever it takes to help the team win. If that’s what the team chooses, that’s what I gotta do. I don’t write the lineups.
“I’m playing every day, so it’s hard to be upset. Yes, I know I’m a second baseman. Yes, I know I’m better at second base, but at the end of the day, I still have to play third. I just have to deal with it.”
Many others seem to be aware that Chisholm has been a far better defender at second than third, while LeMahieu hasn’t been the most mobile at second base, nor is he giving the Yanks much of anything at the plate. A swap seems like a simple move that would immediately help the Bombers improve in the infield, and based on Boone’s comments Tuesday, the Yanks could be open to making that change soon.