BALTIMORE — The Yankees lost 3-2 to the Orioles on Monday night. Fourth straight defeat. When it was over, one of the players most responsible walked past the waiting reporters without a word.
That was Jazz Chisholm Jr. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Three of the Yankees’ six wasted at-bats with runners in scoring position were his. He was expected to speak Tuesday. Monday night, the clubhouse door was the only answer.
Ryan Weathers’ near no-hitter wasted by a lineup that produced almost nothing
Ryan Weathers carried a no-hit bid into the seventh, struck out nine and left with a 2-0 lead. Brent Headrick gave up a three-run homer to Coby Mayo. The Yankees never scored again. Ben Rice’s two-run homer in the third was the only New York offense. Five hits, 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against a 19-23 Baltimore team.
The Yankees have scored zero, three, three and two in four games. Eight runs. The pitching held. The lineup did not. Boone made it plain.
“We’ve got to get some guys unlocked,” Boone said. “We’ve got a handful of guys that are scuffling, and we’ve got to get a little more competitive up and down the lineup as we hit this little rough patch during this week.”
0-for-4, three strikeouts, three RISP failures: Chisholm’s worst night of a rough season
Jazz Chisholm was not just one part of Monday’s offensive collapse. He was the center of it.
He went 0-for-4. He struck out three times. Two of those strikeouts came on what witnesses described as large, off-balance, uncompetitive swings. Half of the Yankees’ wasted opportunities with runners in scoring position came from Chisholm’s at-bats.
The night added to a stretch that has become impossible to dismiss as a temporary slump. Chisholm is now 8-for-48 in his recent run with one extra-base hit in that span. Through 41 Yankees games, he is batting .201 with a .603 OPS, a 72 wRC+, and a 29.3 strikeout rate. He entered the season as a 30-30 player in 2025 who talked publicly about targeting 50-50 this year. The gap between expectation and production has rarely been this wide for a player of his ability.
The advanced metrics align with what the eye test shows. His expected slugging is .319. Barrel rate is 6.1 percent. Hard-hit rate has fallen to 36.0 percent. He is hitting 42 percent ground balls, up from last season. Among 93 qualified hitters, he ranked 87th in xwOBA and 70th in fWAR entering Monday. His walk rate of 9.6 percent and chase rate of 27.3 percent are nearly identical to 2025 levels. The issue is contact quality, not discipline. Pitches he drove last year are being fouled off or missed.
Boone sees a player pressing, not a player lost
Boone was asked specifically about Chisholm after the game. Given that it was the fourth consecutive loss and Chisholm had just gone silent on reporters, the manager’s words carried extra weight.
“You have high expectations, and obviously, he’s an outstanding player,” Boone said. “But you sense guys feeling it when you know you’re a month-plus in and you’re not doing what the back of your baseball card says. So it’s part of it, and that’s probably him feeling that a little bit, probably pressing a little too much, trying to do a little too much. He’s going to get it going, I have no doubt about that, but sometimes you gotta slow things down first and have some small successes to kind of get you going again.”
Boone said Chisholm’s swing decisions are broadly in line with his typical approach. The gap is execution. Pitches he did damage with in 2025 are not producing the same outcomes now. He then addressed the start-and-stop pattern of the season.
“There’s been stretches this year where it seemed like he’s started to get it going a little bit, and then a little bit of a pullback,” Boone said. “He hasn’t fully broken out yet, and he will. It’s the hard part of this game, man. As a hitter, even the good ones, you’re going to go through it in different stretches, and that’s where you gotta be mentally tough and continue to stick to your process, make subtle adjustments, and then walk out there with some swagger.”
Ben Rice and teammates still believe Chisholm will turn it around
Ben Rice, who provided the only Yankees offense Monday with his two-run homer, was asked about his teammate. Rice kept his answer direct and loyal.
“Obviously, he’s such a talented guy, and I always have the utmost faith in the world that he’s gonna do what we need him to, whether it’s offensively or defensively,” Rice said. “I know that just like last year, he’s gonna find his rhythm, and it’s gonna be really fun to watch when he does.”
Yankees’ alternatives at second base are limited
The Yankees’ options are limited. Amed Rosario can play second but does not bring the same defense. Max Schuemann has not produced at the plate. At Triple-A, Anthony Volpe has not played second base and is 4-for-24 since being optioned down. Top prospect George Lombard Jr. fits best at shortstop or third.
So the Yankees will give Chisholm more time. He has four home runs, 10 extra-base hits, 14 RBI and 11 stolen bases in a contract year where he is chasing a long-term deal. Production elsewhere is real. The overall offensive picture is not.
What Monday added: a 0-for-4, three RISP failures, a walk past the reporters, and a fourth straight Yankees loss. Chisholm was at the center of all of it.
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