Yankees SS Jose Caballero chafes at pitch clock violation after MLB reportedly instructs umpires to crack down on gamesmanship
When New York Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero took an automatic strike because of an alleged pitch clock violation on Wednesday, he could be heard telling home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott, “You’re picking on me.”
It turns out there might have been something to that claim.
Following a benches-clearing incident over Caballero’s well-documented gamesmanship against pitchers — waiting until the last possible moment to enter the batter’s box — MLB has grown tired enough that it instructed its umpires to ding him for the move without warning, as crew chief Adrian Johnson told pool reporter Brendan Kuty of The Athletic:
"He's been warned all season. We were instructed not to warn him. We were instructed to violate him. That's what it is. It's a violation."
The incident occurred when Caballero was batting against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski. With an 0-1 count, Caballero was apparently late getting into the box for Wolcott’s liking and the umpire hit him with an automatic strike.
That triggered an argument in which Wolcott could be heard saying “You don’t get to do the three or four seconds in the box anymore, you don’t get to do it,” prompting Caballero’s claim that the umps were picking on him.
Wolcott denied that was the case.
We have another José Caballero situation.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 22, 2026
"You don't get to do the 3 or 4 seconds in the box anymore"
"You're picking on me!" pic.twitter.com/pOteQjG0GH
The argument also saw Yankees hitting coach James Rowson ejected for chirping at Johnson. After the significant delay in play, Caballero was called out on strikes to end the sixth inning.
Caballero was predictably unhappy after the game, complaining about the league’s alleged lack of communication via Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com:
“Doesn’t make sense…I’m not trying to trick (anyone),’’ Caballero said after going 0-for-4 in Pittsburgh’s 5-3 win. “I do the same thing over and over, you can check…my last 100, 150 at-bats.
“If you’re going to make a change in the rule, at least notify us before the game, not (during) the game.’’
Yankees manager Aaron Boone also called the reaction “embarrassing” for the league.
All of this came after a benches-clearing incident in the Yankees’ previous game, in which Pirates reliever Dennis Santana had choice words for Caballero over his gamesmanship and had to be dragged away.
The Yankees have complained that Caballero is operating within the confines of the rulebook, but MLB reportedly has cited a provision in its Pace of Game Procedures that states, “Conduct 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.”
