The dilemma today in game one of a doubleheader between Jose Caballero and the home plate umpire Quinn Wilcott caught the frustration of not just Caballero, but manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees coaching staff. Umpire crew chief Adrian Johnson, as beat writer Brendan Kuty of The Athletic quoted, stated, “MLB told umpires not to issue a warning to Jose Caballero and instead issued a violation to him immediately if they felt he broke the pitch clock rules today”, Johnson said.
Caballero was called on a violation in an 0-1 count in the bottom of the sixth, in which Caballero tends to wait to the last possible moment to engage with the pitcher, in which the home plate umpire Quinn Wilcott stated on a hot mic during the game, “You don’t get to do the 3-4 second thing in the box anymore”, stated Wilcott. He further added that “the office has literally said we are done with it”, stated Wilcott. Caballero and Boone were confused by this response and asked questions. Caballero responded, saying he’s just “doing his routine” and that “he was looking at the pitcher by nine seconds”, which is legally within the bounds of the rule book.
Caballero Technically Is Within The Rules
Caballero waits until the final second to engage, but the umpires and league are not a fan of it. Caballero responded to the umpire, saying, “You’re picking on me”, Caballero stated during the argument. Boone said in the postgame press conference after the loss in game one that it’s “very frustrating” and said, “I’m gonna plead the fifth here.” Major League Baseball came out with something new today, so we gotta change, again”, stated Boone. Jose Caballero said in his own postgame press conference he was told by the umpires “they were making new rules today”, says Caballero.
Boone also responded to a reporter based on a hot mic from the second base umpire telling Boone they had the conversation previously ahead of today’s game, and Boone responded immediately saying, “No. Nope.” Boone also said “yep” when asked by a reporter if they were flying blind on this news. The miscommunication in this dilemma is rather confusing. Still, if Caballero isn’t violating any actual rules, then it’s unclear why this is such an issue with the league’s office if Caballero is within the time constraints of the rulebook itself.
Yankees Struggling Frustration In Judge’s Absence
However, the fact of the matter is it’s added background noise to a Yankees lineup that has been struggling to score runs since Aaron Judge went down with the rib cage injury. The Yankees are trying to gain momentum as the Red Sox have been the hottest team in baseball lately, winning 15 straight games and trailing the Yankees by only 3.5 games in the American League East.
The Yankees will look to move on and right the ship in the second game of this series, happening currently, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, before they begin a road trip in Philadelphia and then Chicago. But the Yankees’ lineup needs to get going, and in a hurry, to keep up in this increasingly changing American League East division.
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