FanGraphs Weekly Mailbag: July 25, 2026

Controversy surrounding José Caballero’s pre-pitch routine struck twice within the Bronx this week, with the primary time prompting the benches to clear and the second inflicting pointless confusion. Within the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 8-5 win over the Pirates on Monday evening, Caballero did what he normally does — he dug into the batter’s field and didn’t search for on the pitcher till there have been eight seconds left on the pitch timer. The thought is to disrupt the pitcher’s rhythm. Pittsburgh reliever Dennis Santana took exception to Caballero’s tactic — which, once more, he has carried out many, many instances for the final 4 seasons — and yelled at him after getting him to floor right into a double play. The benches emptied, and the Pirates complained to MLB about it.

Seems, the griping labored. After the sport, the league instructed the umpires to extra strictly implement the principles requiring batters to have interaction with the pitcher with no fewer than eight seconds left on the clock. As a substitute of warning the batter, after which calling an computerized strike for a repeat violation, the umpires had been directed to evaluate a strike to Caballero for trying to deceive the pitcher, irrespective of how a lot time was left on the pitch timer. Each Caballero and the Yankees declare the league didn’t notify them in regards to the change. As crew chief Adrian Johnson instructed a pool reporter after, “He’s been warned all season. We had been instructed to not warn him. We had been instructed to violate him. That’s what it’s. It’s a violation.” Together with Johnson’s poor phrasing, the sudden change in enforcement is sort of jarring and, for my part, inappropriate. If what the Yankees stated is true — that the league didn’t inform them in regards to the change — then I believe that is an overstep by MLB to single out a participant. Caballero accused the umpires and the league of “selecting on” him. However even when MLB did give the Yankees and Caballero the heads up, I believe the escalated enforcement is an incorrect interpretation of the rule. I really like that Caballero makes use of the pitch clock to his benefit; pitchers can maintain the ball and run down the clock to zero, so why shouldn’t batters be allowed to attend their full allotted time earlier than participating with the pitcher? Furthermore, I additionally don’t know the way Caballero is deceiving the pitcher by doing one thing he does so incessantly. He’s definitely attempting to harass the opposing pitcher, however that’s not deception — that’s good gamesmanship.

Anyway, that’s the final you’ll examine Caballero on this week’s mailbag. As a substitute, we’ll be answering your questions on Esmerlyn Valdez’s heater, Gunnar Henderson’s woes towards fastballs, the best way to repair the Angels, and whether or not anybody will break Jesse Orosco’s report for video games pitched. However first, I’d prefer to remind you that this mailbag is unique to FanGraphs Members. In case you aren’t but a Member and wish to preserve studying, you possibly can join a Membership right here. It’s one of the best ways to each expertise the location and help our employees, and it comes with a bunch of different nice advantages. Additionally, when you’d prefer to ask a query for an upcoming mailbag, ship me an e mail at mailbag@fangraphs.com.