Jazz Chisholm Jr.: Yankees Are 'World Series Champions. No Other Doubt in My Mind'

After previously making enemies with Kansas City Royals fans in the ALDS, New York Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. isn't endearing himself to fans of the other remaining playoff teams by predicting the champion has already been decided.

Speaking to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Chisholm said the Yankees are "World Series champions. No other doubt in my mind" as his team takes a 2-0 series lead into Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday.

Chisholm's quote was part of an answer about the possibility that Aaron Judge is ready to take off following his two-run homer in the seventh inning of New York's 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2.

"I've been saying it from day one, and that's without him raking," Chisholm said of Judge. "He's starting to come together. And now I see it."

Chisholm became the villain in the ALDS when he declared the Royals "just got lucky" in a 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 2.

While there's still a lot of baseball left to be played, Chisholm's declaration that the Yankees are going to win the World Series doesn't seem far-fetched at this point. They have opened up a cushion in the ALCS, despite only one hit from Judge through two games and a lackluster outing from Gerrit Cole in Game 2.

If the Yankees do advance, the two NL teams still standing would probably have just as much confidence as Chisholm does. They lost two of three games to the Los Angeles Dodgers and were swept in four games by the New York Mets during the regular season.

The Yankees will send Clarke Schmidt to the mound in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Guardians at Progressive Field on Thursday. They are two wins away from their first World Series appearance since 2009.