NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� New York Yankees shortstop Jos茅 Caballero was targeted by Major League Baseball for some pest control, sparking yet another squabble.
Weary of Caballero’s routine of waiting to acknowledge the pitcher just before the pitch clock reaches eight seconds, MLB told umpires Wednesday his regimen amounted to deception.
Plate umpire Quinn Wolcott charged Caballero with a pitch-clock violation in the sixth inning that led to a strikeout and the ejection of hitting coach James Rowson as .
鈥淚鈥檝e seen other guys do some other things and they don鈥檛 call anything on them,鈥� Caballero said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just picking on me.鈥�
Caballero was and Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledged his thoughts on the utilityman spun 180 degrees with the swap.
鈥淗e鈥檚 one of those guys I would yell at from the dugout,鈥� Boone said Wednesday morning. 鈥淗e was a pest and I didn鈥檛 like it. Now I like him because he’s a good player and he’s on our side. But, yeah, we’ve had a laugh about that.鈥�
During a June 14 game at Toronto, Caballero twice was deliberate in raising his head until eight seconds remained on the pitch clock, . That prompted a delay of more than two minutes while Caballero, Jaschinski, Boone and crew chief John Tumpane discussed the situation.
when Pirates reliever Dennis Santana yelled at Caballero for taking too long to get ready in the batter鈥檚 box. Then on Wednesday, Wolcott charged Caballero with a violation in the sixth inning while the batter faced Carmen Mlodzinski with the Yankees trailing 2-0. After a delay of 2 1/2 minutes, Cabellero took a called third strike that stranded a runner.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not allowed to do an inordinate amount of time looking down, trying to get the pitcher to cause a violation,鈥� Wolcott told a pool reporter. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no other hitter that gets in the box, takes the amount of the time that Caballero does while looking down, not making eye contact with the pitcher. Obviously it鈥檚 caused a lot of problems in the past. It鈥檚 not going to be allowed anymore.鈥�
in an effort to cut game times. It has been 15 seconds with no runners and 18 seconds with runners .
In cracking down on Caballero, MLB cited a provision in its Pace of Game Procedures that states: 鈥淐onduct by batters designed to deceive a pitcher into beginning their windup or coming to the set position in violation of these regulations shall be considered circumvention.”
Crew chief Adrian Johnson said the series opener skirmish caused MLB to take action.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not allowed anymore. It was the cause of a bench-clearing situation on Monday night. Major League Baseball stepped in, and they wanted enforced,鈥� crew chief Adrian Johnson said. 鈥淲e were instructed not to warn him. We were instructed to violate him.鈥�
Boone said MLB didn’t inform the Yankees before the game of the change in stance.
鈥淚t’s embarrassing,鈥� he said.
Based on previous conversations with MLB, Boone instructed Caballero to 鈥渕ake sure you鈥檙e looking up at nine so that you are alert by eight.鈥�
鈥淗e actually said that they were making new rules today and it鈥檚 on me because I was deceiving or something like that to the pitcher, which doesn鈥檛 make sense,鈥� Caballero said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, maybe my English is so bad that I don鈥檛 understand, but deceiving kind of means that you鈥檙e trying to trick someone and I鈥檓 not trying to trick someone because I do the same thing over and over. You can check my last 50 at-bats and see if I do it the same or not, or check maybe 100 at-bats or 150.鈥�
MLB issued a memo in 2023 , which Willson Contreras called 鈥渢he Willson rule.鈥�
Caballero claims he is being singled out.
鈥淔or everyone, it is eight seconds. For me was nine,” he said. “But now they just don鈥檛 want me to do my routine so it鈥檚 kind of like tricky for me because it鈥檚 the way that I get settled, the way that I try to approach my at-bats.鈥�
Caballero is concerned about giving pitchers control of the timing of pitches.
鈥淚f I get in the box and they have 16, 17 seconds left, they can hold the ball on me all that time and I鈥檇 be tied up,” he said.
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