New York Yankees utilityman José Caballero has found himself in the crosshairs of Major League Baseball, as the league has officially cracked down on his unique pre-pitch routine. The controversy centers on Caballero’s habit of delaying eye contact with the pitcher until the pitch clock nears the eight-second mark, a tactic that MLB officials now deem a violation of pace-of-play regulations.
The tension reached a boiling point during Wednesday’s 5-3 extra-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Following instructions from the league, umpires assessed a pitch clock violation against Caballero in the sixth inning while he faced reliever Carmen Mlodzinski. The resulting called strike contributed to a strikeout, and the heated exchange led to the ejection of Yankees hitting coach James Rowson.
“I’ve seen other guys do some other things and they don’t call anything on them,” Caballero remarked following the game. “They’re just picking on me.”
This is not the first time the infielder’s approach has drawn ire. His routine has been under scrutiny for weeks, including a warning issued during a June 14 game in Toronto. Tensions also flared on Monday night when Pirates reliever Dennis Santana confronted Caballero, resulting in a bench-clearing incident.
Plate umpire Quinn Wolcott clarified the league’s stance to reporters, stating, “He’s not allowed to do an inordinate amount of time looking down, trying to get the pitcher to cause a violation. There’s 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.”
Crew chief Adrian Johnson confirmed that the directive came directly from the league office, noting that officials were instructed to bypass warnings and move straight to enforcement. Yankees manager Aaron Judge’s teammate, Aaron Boone, expressed frustration over the lack of communication regarding the change in enforcement, calling the situation “embarrassing.”
Despite the criticism, Caballero maintains that his routine is not intended to deceive opposing pitchers. “I’m not trying to trick someone because I do the same thing over and over,” he insisted. “It’s the way that I get settled, the way that I try to approach my at-bats.”
MLB, which implemented the pitch clock in 2023 to improve the pace of play, maintains that any batter attempting to manipulate the clock to force a violation constitutes a circumvention of the rules. As the season progresses, it remains to be seen how this new interpretation will impact Caballero’s performance and the league’s broader enforcement of these regulations.
