NEW YORK — New York Yankees shortstop José Caballero was at the center of a tense scene on Monday night — one in which benches cleared, words were exchanged, but no punches were thrown.
Teammates held back Caballero and Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Dennis Santana as the pair shouted at each other from across the diamond at Yankee Stadium, a back-and-forth that stretched on for more than a minute and ended with both sides retreating to their dugouts.
The flare-up came in the eighth inning of an eventual 8-5 Yankees win. The spark that ignited it? A familiar one.
Santana said he took exception to Caballero’s pre-pitch routine, which includes stalling until the pitch clock strikes eight seconds. MLB rules state that is the latest a hitter can wait before he acknowledges the pitcher. The pitcher also must address the hitter by that time.
If the pitcher doesn’t do it in time, he is penalized a ball. If the batter fails to do so, he’s hit with an automatic strike.
“He can do it,” Santana said, “but not every pitch. That’s when I get mad, like, ‘Oh my god. What’s going on? That’s too much.’”
Santana was irked that Caballero stuck with his routine, even though the Yankees were up three runs and had a runner on first. He said he yelled at Caballero to speed things along, though he was aware Caballero does that virtually all the time, regardless of the circumstances.
“It’s nothing against him,” the pitcher said. “It’s just a game. I got caught up in the game.”
Whoaaaa benches clear between Yankees and Pirates pic.twitter.com/6s0M8kwu56
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) July 21, 2026
At the start of the at-bat, umpire Paul Clemons stopped play and warned Santana, telling him to be ready to make eye contact with Caballero at the eight-second mark.
“At this point,” Caballero said, “he’s lucky that he doesn’t get a ball right away.”
Caballero said he was surprised Santana was yelling at him.
“I grounded out off home plate,” the shortstop said. “He got he wanted: A ground ball for a double play. He should go to the other side (the Pirates’ dugout). He was walking to the wrong side.”
Both players said they had never spoken to one another before.
“I think it was the speed of the game,” Santana said. “I’m not used to people waiting too much at home plate.”
Dennis Santana grew annoyed with José Caballero’s pre-pitch routine on Monday. (Noah K. Murray / Associated Press)
Pirates manager Don Kelly said he thought Santana handled the situation well — aside from yelling at Caballero.
“He stayed in the moment and continued to pitch and made his pitches and got a double play,” Kelly said.
“Boys will be boys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Caballero’s pre-pitch routine has rankled opposing pitchers — and even some umpires — all year.
The 29-year-old doesn’t understand why pitchers are still getting upset, since they know his plans.
“At this point,” Caballero said, “it’s been four years with the same rules, which we all should know about the rules. The whole league should know who I am, what I do in the box, and they should be aware of it. And for you to get mad at something the league is implementing in this league, you shouldn’t be mad at me. You should be mad at someone else.”
Caballero said he doesn’t find joy in making other teams mad. But if it happens, so be it.
“I’m trying to take my time,” he said. “I don’t want them to mess with my time. I do my routine as always. It’s just part of my routine. If you get frustrated, I’m winning. For me, it’s a battle in the box, and I’m trying to win the battle. If you are not concentrating 100 percent, I think I’m winning.
“At the end of the day, it’s a rule that’s been out there for four years now. If you’re not used to it, you should practice.”
