New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm made a totally disrespectful move toward a home plate umpire in Tuesday’s spring training game, but he managed to get away with it.
Chisholm was at the plate with a 3-2 count in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. Chisholm took the payoff pitch, which appeared to be off the outside corner, but home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz quite emphatically called it strike three and punched Chisholm out.
Ultimately, it was Chisholm who got the last laugh. The infielder tapped his helmet to signal that he was challenging the call. Chisholm was so confident that he was correct, he began running down to first before the review had even taken place.
As it turned out, Chisholm’s confidence was not misplaced. The automatic review showed that the pitch missed the strike zone by nearly two inches, and he was awarded the walk.
Jazz didn't even wait to see if he was correct 💀 pic.twitter.com/rF2aTizST1
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 18, 2025
Ortiz may not love that Chisholm basically showed him up, but he got the call wrong. There is not much he can do about it.
Umpires have actually been pretty relaxed and have even had some fun with the challenge system, which is being tested in spring training. It will not be used during the regular season, though the expectation is it will ultimately make its MLB debut at some point in the near future.
Chisholm has never been afraid to be a bit controversial. This would have been embarrassing for him had he been wrong, but he got the last laugh in this instance.
