Surprise, surprise: Yankees' Jose Caballero gets into another pitch clock tiff

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Ben Watanabe

By Ben Watanabe

Contributing Sports Writer

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It wouldn't be baseball without Jose Caballero getting into some nonsense over the pitch clock again.

Caballero, who maximizes his ability as a fringe-level MLB talent by getting under the skin of opponents and umpires alike, has made a habit of testing the limits of the pitch clock. His antics have drawn plenty of ire, not only from opposing pitchers but from fans as well.

On Wednesday, yet another game ground to a halt to address Caballero's mind games.

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Jose Caballero #72 of the New York Yankees

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The background on what happened during the New York Yankees' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates is long, complicated and not altogether interesting, so people spent plenty of energy debating on social media whether Caballero was right or wrong by the letter of the rule. You can watch what played out in the X post below.

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Caballero could clearly be heard in the video yelling, "You're picking on me!" He didn't come across quite as whiny in his postgame interview when he told reporters, "It's not the first time the league has changed a rule on me," as seen in a video posted to X by SNY Yankees.

As with all rules, there's the letter of the rule and the spirit of the rule. Regardless of whether Caballero was within the strict confines of the rule's intricate wording, the spirit of the pitch clock is to speed up the game while allowing both pitcher and batter fair opportunity to deliver and attempt to hit the ball, respectively. Caballero's actions don't adhere to the spirit of that rule, therefore he's wrong.

Yankees fans, naturally, disagree. It's funny to think how they'd feel about Caballero if he were on another team or if he weren't playing solid defense at shortstop. It's also funny to see them go to the mat for a guy with a .295 on-base percentage and an 89 OPS+; if New York were getting more from his spot in the lineup, it might not be battling to catch the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.

That's the fun of baseball, though. One team's insufferable pest is another team's hero. Caballero is probably just a little more of one than the other.