NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone had a lengthy conversation with Major League Baseball officials about shortstop José Caballero’s deliberate tempo in the batter’s box that resulted in a delay-of-game warning Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“So I feel like we have a good handle on it and certainly understand what he’s trying to do and he has a rhythm and a process to help him get locked and we think it’s within the rules,” Boone said on Tuesday before the Yankees opened a three-game series with the White Sox. “I talked to them and tried to get very specific. So I’ve given José some kind of instruction on where we should be OK and hopefully that all lines up with the umpiring crew as well.”
During the sixth inning of Sunday’s in Toronto, Caballero was slow raising his head during an at-bat against reliever Spencer Miles. On two occasions during the at-bat, Caballero was deliberate in raising his head until eight seconds remained on the pitch clock.
Eight seconds is the cutoff time for engagement and pitchers cannot come set until being acknowledged by the hitter.
After the second instance plate umpire Steven Jaschinski warned him and told the infielder a strike would be called if it happened again. Play was delayed for more than two minutes when Caballero, Jaschinski, Boone and crew chief John Tumpane discussed it.
“That’s what he said and then whenever he talked to everyone on his speaker, he said that I was delaying the game which if I delayed the game that’s a strike because I’m going over the time that I have,” Caballero said Tuesday. “Since I’m not doing that, they’re just saying something to say because it’s not what it is.”
Caballero started in right field on Tuesday and said before his first at-bat, he was going to attempt get clarification from plate umpire Mike Muchlinski.
“I might have to ask the umpire right before the game starts to see what is the new ruling today,” Caballero said “They’ve been changing the rule every single day, so we’ll see.”
Caballero’s deliberate style in the batter’s box has periodically irked opponents. During the first year of the rule in 2023, Caballero irked Gerrit Cole while playing for the Mariners.
The Yankees acquired Caballero from the Rays on and he is hitting .258 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 59 games. After getting his warning, Caballero hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning on Sunday.
“There’s some gamesmanship in what he does but he’s a smart gritty player,” Boone said. “He’s using the rules to the best of his ability to his advantage.”
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