Yankees’ Jose Caballero flagged as MLB tightens pitch-clock routine
MLB told umpires to penalize Jose Caballero’s slow look-up routine, leading to a violation, a coach’s ejection and Yankees frustration.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Jose Caballero’s batter’s-box routine finally drew a hard stop from Major League Baseball on Wednesday, and the Yankees were furious.
The New York shortstop was called for a pitch-clock violation in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader, according to the Associated Press. The call came after MLB told umpires that Caballero’s habit of waiting until late in the clock to look toward the pitcher amounted to deception under pace-of-game rules.
Plate umpire Quinn Wolcott made the call while Caballero faced Pirates pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski with New York trailing 2-0. After a delay of about 2 1/2 minutes, Caballero took a called third strike, leaving a runner stranded, the AP reported.
Yankees hitting coach James Rowson was ejected after the violation, according to the AP.
Caballero said after the game that he believed he was being treated differently from other players. “I’ve seen other guys do some other things and they don’t call anything on them,” he said, according to the AP. “They’re just picking on me.”
MLB says the routine crossed the line
Wolcott told a pool reporter that Caballero was taking too long while looking down and avoiding eye contact with the pitcher, according to the AP.
“He’s not allowed to do an inordinate amount of time looking down, trying to get the pitcher to cause a violation,” Wolcott said, according to the AP. Wolcott added that no other hitter used as much time in the box in that manner and said the practice had caused problems before.
MLB adopted the pitch clock in 2023 to shorten games. Since 2024, pitchers have had 15 seconds with the bases empty and 18 seconds with runners on base, according to the AP.
In acting against Caballero’s routine, MLB cited its Pace of Game Procedures, which say batter conduct intended to fool a pitcher into starting a windup or coming set in violation of the regulations is considered circumvention, the AP reported.
Crew chief Adrian Johnson said MLB stepped in after tensions boiled over earlier in the Pirates-Yankees series. On Monday night, benches and bullpens cleared after Pirates reliever Dennis Santana yelled at Caballero over how long he was taking to get ready in the box, according to the AP.
Johnson said umpires were told to enforce the rule without giving Caballero a warning. “We were instructed not to warn him. We were instructed to violate him,” he said, according to the AP.
Boone says Yankees got no warning
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said MLB did not tell the team before Wednesday’s game that umpires would change how they handled Caballero’s routine, according to the AP. Boone called the situation “embarrassing.”
Boone said prior discussions with MLB led him to tell Caballero to look up at nine seconds so he would be ready by eight, the AP reported.
Caballero said he was told rules were being made that day and that he was being accused of deception. He disputed that label, saying he repeats the same routine and is not trying to trick pitchers, according to the AP.
Caballero, acquired by the Yankees from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 31, has a reputation as an irritant. Boone said Wednesday morning that before Caballero joined New York, he was the kind of player Boone would yell at from the dugout, according to the AP. Boone said he now likes him because he is a good player and on the Yankees’ side.
Caballero said the standard had shifted for him. “For everyone, it is eight seconds. For me was nine,” he said, according to the AP. He also said he worries that if he gets set too early, pitchers can hold the ball and control the timing of the at-bat.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.