Yankees players issue internal fines for bad ABS challenges
New York Yankees players are holding themselves accountable for making terrible ABS challenge decisions by issuing fines.
Hitters pay for challenging when the entire ball is in the strike zone, backup catcher J.C. Escarra explained.
"If it's a whole ball in the zone, you should know it's a strike," Escarra said, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
The fines are usually $500, but Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. upped his own fine to $1,000 for a challenge he made against the Houston Astros on Friday.
Jazz Chisholm with a horrendous challenge pic.twitter.com/Lavsd7znUM
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 25, 2026
"I gotta do something for the team worth at least $1,000 after that," Chisholm said.
The Yankees second baseman and teammate Ben Rice are the only players to pay the fines so far, Chisholm and Escarra said Friday. Rice made an awful challenge of his own against the Miami Marlins on April 3. However, Cody Bellinger admitted he also paid a fine for losing his first challenge of the season.
Uhhh Ben, what? pic.twitter.com/FPFE0FdYHu
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 3, 2026