Aaron Boone insists José Caballero no longer is pushing the envelope when it comes to the pitch clock, which made the infielder’s violation with one out in the bottom of the seventh Saturday even more bothersome to the manager.
“They got him for circumvention,’’ Boone said of the call by home plate umpire Dan Merzel in the 5-4 Yankees win over Atlanta at the Stadium.
Boone added the call was made at “around 11 seconds [with] no warning. And they have to warn him.”
Caballero has made a name for himself this season by occasionally not engaging with pitchers until the 8-second mark on the pitch clock, which is as long as a batter can go.
Last month, Caballero was called for a violation even when he was engaged prior to the 8-second mark because the umpires ruled he spent the final few seconds in the batter’s box but looking down.
A visibly frustrated Boone indicated that the interpretation of the rule appeared to change again Saturday — at least in regard to Caballero.
And to make matters worse, even after Caballero worked a walk in the at-bat, he was clearly still upset about the violation and slammed his equipment down before going to first.
He had to be guided to the base by first base coach Dan Fiorito.
As that was going on, Merzel called a pitch-clock violation on the next batter, Austin Wells.
“That was petty stuff going on,’’ Boone said of Merzel’s call in the Wells’ at-bat. “I thought that was uncalled for.”
Boone argued with Merzel and crew chief Dan Bellino after the inning, noting that Caballero was never given a heads-up before the call.
You have to warn him,” Boone said. “You have to warn him — unless I get a new memo from the league that changes [the rule] again.”
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Boone added Caballero is “not doing that anymore. … I didn’t even see this one. There might have been some circumvention, [but] there needs to be a warning.”
Caballero has been able to bother opposing pitchers with his ability to not engage until the final moment, which led to the benches clearing in a game against the Pirates last month, when Pittsburgh’s Dennis Santana took exception to Caballero’s manipulation of the pitch timer.
That resulted in a pitch being waved off during the at-bat.
Around the time that the pitch-clock controversy came to a head, Caballero fell into a funk at the plate, going 5-for-29 with a double, two walks and 10 strikeouts in a nine-game stretch.
And his playing time may be limited with George Lombard Jr. now the everyday shortstop.
