While the Yankees had a 6-3 win over the Rays in the series opener last night, Jazz Chisholm was ejected from the game during the seventh inning after a questionable strike three call on a full count. He voiced his complaints and displayed a ton of frustration, including firing his helmet towards home plate, which didn’t help his case. Just minutes after being ejected, Chisholm would take to Twitter to say that the pitch was not close, deleting the post later on but violating another MLB rule in the process.
The league office would then decide to both fine Jazz Chisholm and suspend him for one game, which the infielder is currently appealing, which would make him eligible for tonight’s matchup with the Rays.
Jazz Chisholm Receives Fine and One Game Suspension, Yankees To Play Him While He Appeals
The decision to suspend Jazz Chisholm won’t go over well with Yankees fans because of what was a missed call on a strikeout, but the league office does have grounds to punish the infielder. Not only did he fire his helmet towards home plate, which is where the umpire was, but there is irrefutable evidence that he used his phone during an MLB game to disparage an MLB umpire, both of which are explicitly against league rules.
Jazz Chisholm is appealing the one-game suspension, which will keep him eligible to play for tonight’s game against the Rays, but his infractions are easy to impossible to disprove. There was evidence of phone usage during an MLB game by a player who participated in the game through that since-deleted tweet, and there’s evidence in that tweet that he was disparaging an MLB umpire, so Rob Manfred and the league office have a pretty easy case to work with here.
For the Yankees, it will mean that Oswald Peraza or Pablo Reyes will get a start for Chisholm, assuming MLB holds firm on their one-game suspension. It could make sense to hold out until Ryan Pepiot takes the mound for the Rays on Sunday, since his career OPS against left-handed batters is .671 while his OPS against right-handed batters is .694, as his fastball-changeup combination is perfect for handling opposite-handed batters.
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That decision is not up to them; the appeal process will be in the hands of the league office, and they can choose to enforce the punishment if they believe Jazz Chisholm’s case isn’t worthy of a reduced punishment. The outcome for the Yankees isn’t great, but considering they have played the left-handed hitting infielder a lot to start the year, a day off might not be the worst thing in the world for him.
Where the Yankees might miss him is with that short porch at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is modeled exactly like Yankee Stadium. Chisholm has performed much better at home than he has on the road, and his swing is perfect for the Rays’ temporary home, so he could have been a useful power bat to have for all four games of the series. The Yankees will kick off the second game of this four-game set tonight as Carlos Rodon takes on Drew Rasmussen at 7 PM EST.