The New York Yankees skipper, Aaron Boone, had organized plenty of ABS meetings during Spring to prepare his players for the newly introduced Automated Ball-Strike System. While some players have been largely successful, for others it’s still a work in progress. But in the case of Jazz Chisholm Jr, it’s almost disastrous. His mistakes with the system are hurting the Yankees.

Recently, he made a very bad challenge in a close game against the Toronto Blue Jays. This mistake cost the Yankees a challenge they might have needed later. Because these mistakes hurt the team’s chances to win close games, Boone decided to call him out in public

“To me, that was leverage. 3-0 count is the biggest strike zone count for an umpire that they have,” Boone said on Talkin’ Yanks while discussing leverage index. “Now it was a very bad challenge. It’s right there, a full ball.”

As the podcast hosts pointed out, the Yankees’ leverage index has been fluctuating. This stat measures how a team performs in high-pressure moments. The Yankees were the third-best MLB team in mid-May, and then became one of the worst within a couple of weeks. Turns out Jazz Chisholm Jr’s latest ABS blunder has a role to play in it.

Chisholm was facing Kevin Gausman on a 3-0 count when the Yankees recorded a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays. With two outs at the top of the fourth, the umpire ruled the next throw as a strike, making it a 3-1 count.

Chisholm, instead of taking the hitter’s advantage, challenged the call, tapping on his helmet. A confident Chisholm even started taking off his gear to go to first base. However, the challenge showed the ball passing completely through the strike zone. The Yankees lost a review for nothing. Moreover, they also did not have any runners on base.

Though Boone admitted that Chisholm’s ABS challenge was a bad one, he also revealed that he has no complaints with Chisholm’s timing. The skipper believes it was a high-leverage situation. Had Chisholm been right, the Yankees could have put a runner on first.

Sadly, Chisholm has a terrible history of missing ABS challenges this year. He has correctly guessed only four out of 15 challenges. This puts him far below the league average. In a past game against the Houston Astros, he challenged a pitch that went right down the middle.

While Chisholm continues to struggle to get his zone right, manager Boone has shared the Yankees’ stance on ABS in the clubhouse.

Aaron Boone reveals the Yankees’ stance on ABS

The New York Yankees have a 49.4% success rate in ABS challenges as a batting team this season. The Yankees have certainly allowed the players a space to learn the new system through trial and error.

The Yankees not shunning Chisholm from challenging, after his ABS blunders, is a reflection of their clubhouse policy. Boone also revealed on the podcast that the Yankees are not planning to bring about any changes to their approach now. They have been aggressive with challenges from the season’s start, and per Boone, they will continue to do the same.

“Not really,” Boone said on Talkin’ Yanks, when asked if they will bring a change. “I feel like we have been fairly aggressive with it. I feel like our catchers are getting more and more of a grip on it and are doing a good job with it.”

The Yankees’ catcher, Austin Wells, has successfully challenged 30 out of 48 times. He has a 62.5% success rate this season. Boone also explained that without context, a percentage is not as meaningful. The numbers alone don’t tell the story behind.

Hence, for now, the Yankees will be approaching the ABS Challenge system the same way they have been doing for the past three months. Despite recording only four correct challenges out of 15, Chisholm will still get the opportunity to sharpen his sense of the strike zone.