Yankees' Boone Says 'It's Embarrassing' MLB Changed Pitch-Clock Rule Without Telling Jose Caballero

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone wasn't pleased with MLB's new pitch-clock rule after shortstop José Caballero was called for a violation without being informed of the change on Wednesday.

"I'm going to plead the fifth here," Boone said, via SNY's Philip Martinez. "MLB came out with something new today, so we have to change again."

"It's embarrassing," he added.

In a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, Caballero was called for a pitch-clock violation in the sixth inning. Boone subsequently had a heated conversation with the umpiring crew before Yankees hitting coach James Rowson was ejected.

Under MLB's pitch clock rules introduced for the 2023 season, batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the eight-second mark of the clock or else they're given an automatic strike.

Caballero has often waited until just before the eight-second mark to engage opposing pitchers, potentially luring them into a pitch timer violation.

Opponents have been frustrated by Caballero's strategy, which caused benches to clear during New York's 8-5 win over Pittsburgh on Monday.

Crew chief Adrian Johnson told Brendan Kuty of The Athletic that MLB informed umpires they shouldn't give a warning to Caballero if they felt he broke the pitch-clock rules on Wednesday. Instead, they should issue a violation immediately.

Boone revealed that he only found out about the updated guidelines in the sixth inning of Wednesday's game, detailing his conversation with the umpires.

"He can't do that. It's disrupting the pitcher; it's some kind of circumvention," Boone said, via Martinez. "I've been told very specifically over and over when we've had issues that he has to be alert at eight seconds. That's making sure Cabby is looking up at nine [seconds] to make sure he's looking in. And that's very specifically what I've been told.

"And today was something different and they didn't give us the heads up." 

Caballero has appeared in 87 games with the Yankees this year, amassing 10 home runs, 11 doubles, 23 stolen bases and 37 RBI. He's also posted a .244/.295/.387 slash line.