Major League Baseball has cracked down on New York Yankees shortstop José Caballero over his batter’s box routine, ruling that his deliberate delay tactics amount to pitch-clock circumvention and setting off a fiery debate over enforcement standards. The league office intervened following a tense series-opener skirmish, instructing umpires to immediately penalize the utility infielder rather than issue warnings as officials try to tighten pace-of-play regulations.
The crackdown boiled over during the opening game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when plate umpire Quinn Wolcott slapped Caballero with a pitch-clock violation in the sixth inning. The penalty resulted in a called strikeout and the ejection of Yankees hitting coach James Rowson as New York dropped a 5-3 decision in 10 innings. Wolcott told a pool reporter after the game that Caballero spends an inordinate amount of time looking down and avoiding eye contact with the pitcher to manipulate timing.
“He’s not allowed to do an inordinate amount of time looking down, trying to get the pitcher to cause a violation,” Wolcott said. “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. Obviously it’s caused a lot of problems in the past. It’s not going to be allowed anymore.”
The Escalation and MLB’s Rule Application
The friction between Caballero and opposing clubs escalated earlier in the week during a series opener against Pittsburgh, when benches and bullpens cleared after Pirates reliever Dennis Santana yelled at the Yankees infielder for taking too long to settle in the box. Crew chief Adrian Johnson explained that the on-field confrontation prompted Major League Baseball to step in directly.
“It’s not allowed anymore. It was the cause of a bench-clearing situation on Monday night. Major League Baseball stepped in, and they wanted enforced,” Johnson said. “We were instructed not to warn him. We were instructed to violate him.”
In targeting Caballero’s routine, MLB cited a specific provision within its Pace of Game Procedures. The rule dictates that any conduct by batters designed to deceive a pitcher into beginning a windup or coming to a set position in violation of regulations is considered circumvention. The pitch clock itself was introduced for the 2023 season to speed up games, set at 15 seconds with no runners on base and 18 seconds when runners are aboard.
Prior incidents included a June 14 game in Toronto where Caballero twice delayed raising his head until eight seconds remained on the clock, triggering a warning from plate umpire Steven Jaschinski and a two-minute delay involving manager Aaron Boone and crew chief John Tumpane.
Yankees Response and Caballero’s Defense
Yankees manager Aaron Boone expressed frustration over the sudden enforcement, noting that the league did not give the club advance notice of the policy shift before the game. Boone called the situation embarrassing and revealed that he had previously advised Caballero to look up at the nine-second mark to ensure he was fully alert before the eight-second threshold.
“He’s one of those guys I would yell at from the dugout,” Boone said of Caballero, whom the Yankees acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 31. “He was a pest and I didn’t 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.”
Caballero defended his approach, arguing that he repeats the exact same sequence for every plate appearance and is not attempting to trick anyone. He asserted that he is being singled out by umpires.
“I’ve seen other guys do some other things and they don’t call anything on them,” Caballero said. “They’re just picking on me.”
Caballero also expressed concern that altering his routine shifts the competitive balance by giving pitchers excessive control over the timing of deliveries. If he enters the box too early while pitchers still have 16 or 17 seconds left on the clock, he worries hurlers can simply hold the ball and disrupt his timing entirely.
As Major League Baseball continues to monitor pace-of-play infractions and enforce its circumvention rules strictly, Caballero and the Yankees face mounting pressure to adapt the infielder’s setup before further penalties impact their lineup.