Can the Yankees Overcome Their Baserunning Woes?

An all-too-familiar flaw popped up for the Yankees in their win on Tuesday.

Oct 15, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees third base Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) is tagged out by Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) at second base during the sixth inning in game two of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees are one of the strongest teams in baseball, but they definitely aren't perfect.

In fact, one of the team's biggest weaknesses is a fairly elementary area: their baserunning. Throughout the season, the Bronx Bombers have been frustratingly prone to making outs on the basepaths, which have stymied a number of budding rallies and, in some cases, directly resulted in narrow defeats.

While many were hoping that the Bronx Bombers would improve their baserunning by the postseason, this exploitable flaw reared its ugly head in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.

In the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead, the Yankees appeared to set themselves up nicely with a leadoff double by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and a walk by Anthony Volpe. But with Anthony Rizzo at the plate, Guardians lefty Erik Sabrowski picked off Chisholm at second base; Chisholm had strayed too far off the bag in an attempt to steal third, and despite a nifty swim move to try to get back to second, shortstop Brayan Rocchio still slapped the tag on Chisholm in time for the first out of the inning.

Jazz's rough postseason continues pic.twitter.com/vmPphuZ1H7

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 16, 2024

Rizzo subsequently drove in Volpe all the way from first base with a double, but Chisholm's earlier mistake on the bases cost New York another run that would have scored on the play. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be much longer before Rizzo himself made a similar mistake.

With two outs and Gleyber Torres batting, Rizzo tried to advance to third base when new Guardians pitcher Pedro Avila threw a pitch in the dirt. But Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges fielded the ball quickly, and Rizzo was eventually tagged out in a rundown between second and third to end the inning.

Having seen the Bronx Bombers make two inexcusable outs on the basepaths in one inning, Yankees' radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling hilariously called out the team, saying they "run the bases like drunks!"

That's what they do- run the bases like drunks! pic.twitter.com/YTaL72aZSK

— John Sterling Calls (@JSterlingCalls) October 16, 2024

Rizzo's mistake also may have cost the Yankees a run, as Torres led off the seventh inning with a single (albeit against a different pitcher, Hunter Gaddis) that could have scored him. Fortunately, Aaron Judge seemed to ameliorate these mistakes by hitting a two-run home run that effectively put the game out of reach. The Yankees would hang on to defeat the Guardians, 6-3, and take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Even though the Yankees still emerged victorious on Tuesday, these mental miscues on the basepaths are unacceptable in the high-pressure environment of the postseason where runs come at a premium. If they do this again in this series against Cleveland or (if they advance) in the World Series against the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers, the Bronx Bombers likely won't get away with it.

The Yankees, for the most part, have not been playing their best baseball this postseason despite an impressive 5-1 record. As such, if they want to emerge as world champions for the first time since 2009, they need to fine-tune a few areas of play, with their baserunning being one of them.