José Caballero said he entered Tuesday’s game against the White Sox still unclear of the pitch clock rule that he’s often been able to use to his advantage.
The issue stemmed from Sunday’s controversy in Toronto, where Caballero was issued a warning for not engaging with the pitcher with eight seconds left on the clock.
“I’m still waiting [for] the actual rule,’’ Caballero said before going 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two RBIs in the Yankees’ series-opening 12-2 win against Chicago in The Bronx. “That’s it.”
Aaron Boone, though, said he had a lengthy chat with the league Monday and passed along some of the messaging to Caballero.
The issue, Boone said, is that the umpires need to see that Caballero doesn’t just have his head up by eight seconds, but is also “alert” at that time.
“I certainly understand what he’s trying to do, and he has a rhythm and a process to get locked in,” Boone said. “We think it’s within the rules.”
If there’s a change, it’s that Caballero has to understand what “alert” means — and that he doesn’t step out of the batter’s box unless the umpire says the pitcher hasn’t engaged him in time.
“I tried to get very specific and give José some instruction where we should be OK,” Boone said.
The Yankees don’t want to take away that aspect of Caballero’s game, with Boone noting that his ability to irritate the opposition is one of the aspects of his game that intrigued them when he was with the Rays.
Caballero, evidently still mystified, said he would ask the home plate umpire as he got to the plate for the first time to get the umpire’s interpretation of the rule.
“They’ve been changing the rule every single day,’’ Caballero said.
One potential issue is that Caballero occasionally holds his bat in a hitting position while not looking up for an extended period of time, which arguably violates the rule that prohibits hitters from trying to “deceive” pitchers.
Toronto manager John Schneider was unhappy with Caballero on Sunday, saying he’s the only player who’s using his methods.
Caballero said he was unaware of and not interested in Schneider’s comments.
To Caballero, it’s about controlling the at-bat.
“I’m not gonna give my at-bat to a pitcher to determine my timing,’’ Caballero said.
He added he was “pretty annoyed” that he’s being stopped from what he believes is fair play.
And Boone tends to agree with his player.
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“I think the way he articulates it makes a lot of sense,’’ Boone said. “You see night in and night out, different pitchers try to hold the ball. Batters can take control of the situation. Every batter has a mentality of how to get focused and their process. That’s what he’s doing.”
The manager added he’s “surprised” more hitters don’t take a similar approach.
“He’s a smart, gritty player and there’s some gamesmanship to what he does,’’ Boone said. “He’s using the rules to the best of his ability to his advantage. There’s nothing he’s doing . … Maybe I am surprised other guys don’t do that. The last thing I want to do as a hitter is be at the mercy of a pitcher for 15 to 17 seconds, where they can control the pace and tempo.”
And if it bothers the opposition, so be it.
“It’s heady stuff he does,” Boone said. “I’ve been on the other side. I understand it gets under their skin. Part of that is why we got him over here.”
