"We can be better" - Jazz Chisholm Jr. makes honest admission about Yankees' recent slump

The New York Yankees were one of the best teams in baseball heading into June. However, the Bronx Bombers have underwhelmed this month, suffering disappointing series losses against the Boston Red Sox. Their slump has allowed their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays, to cut the lead at the top of the AL East.

The Yankees have since recovered, making it two wins in two after a 3-0 triumph over the Athletics in the series opener on Friday. After the game, star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. discussed the team's slump.

"I feel like we can be better, obviously. I feel like we're a better team than we've shown," Chisholm said after Friday's win.

The Yankees star admitted the team has had some hiccups over the last few weeks but said they would learn from it and become a better outfit as they edge closer to the playoffs.

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The infielder went 1-for-4 in the first game of the series, driving in a run with a solo home run.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has provided a much-needed spark to the offense since his return to the lineup earlier this month after missing almost a month of action. With Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt's output dipping this month, Chisholm is slashing .329/.392/.557 with four homers and 13 RBIs in the past 19 games.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone echoes Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s sentiments

The Yankees are 1.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays on the AL East leaderboard, but their lead has reduced significantly over the last few weeks. Yankees manager Aaron Boone echoed Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s words after Friday's series opener.

“We put ourselves in a good position,” Boone said. "It hasn’t been perfect. We’ve hit our bumps … these last couple weeks. But overall, we’ve shown that we’re a team to be reckoned with but with a lot out there to improve on.”

The Yankees' pitching staff restricted the A's to just three hits on the night, recording a ninth scoreless outing, the most this season, along with the Cleveland Guardians in the AL. Will Warren pitched five scoreless innings while Devin Williams closed the game to earn his 11th save of the season.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash