New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. was none too pleased with the strike zone in Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected for arguing a called third strike by home plate umpire John Bacon in the top of the seventh inning.
(Video source: MLB.com)
The ball appeared to be outside the strike zone, but Chisholm also seemingly benefited earlier in the at-bat when a pitch that clipped the zone was called a ball.
Chisholm didn't waste time making his thoughts known following the ejection, posting on X from the clubhouse that the call wasn't "even f-----g close." He later deleted the post.
"That's probably why I got so fired up about what he said," Chisholm said postgame of the altercation with Bacon, according to YES Network. "I'm a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I'm right and you're saying something to me that I think doesn't make sense, I'm gonna get fired up and be upset."
The 27-year-old finished the game with a run scored and a walk in three at-bats. Chisholm's season average dropped to .169, although he's chipped in six home runs in 19 games.
"I feel like a lot of stuff hasn’t been going my way, but that doesn’t give me the excuse to go out there and act like that," Chisholm said, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. "I’m a ballplayer, I have emotions. I know I’ve acted like that in the past, but that’s what I’ve really worked on to the present now."
Chisholm could face discipline from the league as MLB's social media rules prohibit players from displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality or otherwise denigrates an umpire.
The league will look into the situation, a source told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
"I don't care," Chisholm said. "I did what I did. I can live with the fine."