A bench-clearing routine. Plus: Don’t worry about Misiorowski
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Jose Caballero is causing trouble again … but he’s not doing anything wrong? Plus: Jacob Misiorowski’s short outing and a Power Rankings search for second-half stars. I also wonder, does Kyle Teel’s injury change the White Sox’s deadline strategy?
I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!
Vexed: Caballero’s routine causes benches to clear
Remember back in June, when Blue Jays manager John Schneider publicly aired out his frustration with Yankees shortstop José Caballero continually waiting until the last possible second to look up and engage with the pitcher? It led to MLB issuing “clarification” on the rule: Batters must be “alert” and looking at the pitcher when the pitch clock strikes eight seconds, or they’ll be penalized with a strike.
Caballero stirred up the issue again last night, against Pittsburgh pitcher Dennis Santana. In the eighth inning of the Yankees-Pirates game, Santana appeared to start his delivery with nine seconds on the clock, and Caballero still looking down. Home-plate umpire Paul Clemons gestured broadly, stopping play and pointed to his eyes, indicating to Santana that he had to wait for eye contact.
After Caballero grounded into a 1-6-3 double play, Santana seemed to blow a kiss to Caballero before the two began exchanging words and walking toward one another. Then the benches cleared.
There were no punches thrown, and no ejections, so it’s maybe more of a “let’s keep an eye on it” thing. But Caballero is going to keep doing this, and that’s … fine? Pretty much. Annoying, maybe, but Caballero is operating within the rules, so I’m not sure what pitchers (and opposing managers) are hoping will change.
Oh, and the Yankees won 8-5 after jumping out to a four-run first inning. The first run was scored on this play, when — after an error by Pirates third baseman Nick Gonzales — left fielder Bryan Reynolds was first to the ball, and just absolutely Raul Ibañez’d it.
I know, others have done it since Ibañez. But he was the first one to do it after social media made it easy to share clips widely and quickly. So it’ll always be an Ibañez throw to me. Sorry about your luck, Raul.
More Yankees: Brendan Kuty identifies the team’s three biggest roster issues, while Chris Kirschner says they really need to address the offense at the trade deadline.
Middle Relief: Players who need to up their game
This week’s Power Rankings do their best to identify a player from each team who needs to play like an All-Star in the second half. Here’s an excerpt featuring our Nos. 6 and 7 teams, the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, respectively.
Chicago Cubs
Record: 56-44
Last Power Ranking: T-5
Second-half All-Star: Alex Bregman
A year after striking out on the third baseman, the Cubs ponied up the cash and the contract demands to land Bregman. At times during the first half, Chicago probably wished it hadn’t. The 32-year-old is currently in the midst of the worst offensive season of his career, his 97 wRC+ sitting three points below league average.
There have been some flashes, including a 10-game stretch to close the first half, and the defense is still solid, but Bregman has otherwise been a non-factor for a Cubs team with major October aspirations. Fortunately, a hot start plus some historic contributions from Pete Crow-Armstrong have the Cubs in wild-card territory, but a contributing Bregman could mean the difference between hosting a series at Wrigley Field in October and playing on the road. — Johnny Flores Jr.
Philadelphia Phillies
Record: 56-45
Last Power Ranking: 7
Second-half All-Star: Trea Turner
Turner is one of the easiest choices on the board as one of the sport’s biggest underperformers to this point this season. The 33-year-old is on pace for less than one win above replacement this season (according to FanGraphs). That’s about a typical month’s worth of production from him. (Entering the season, he’d generated one WAR every 27 games throughout his career.) If he is anything resembling his usual self, the Phillies can mount as serious a challenge to the Dodgers as anyone in the National League. — Tim Britton
For our full Power Rankings, click here.
White Sox Win … but lose their catcher
In a matchup of first-place teams last night, the White Sox took it to the Rangers, winning 10-3. But it wasn’t all good news: In the second inning, catcher Kyle Teel was removed from the game after twisting his left leg while trying to tag Rangers shortstop Ezequiel Durán at the plate. Teel was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the field.
The White Sox are calling it a “left ankle injury,” and announced he would be “undergoing further evaluation.” But, as first reported by Beisbol FR’s Francys Romero, the White Sox are calling up catcher Edgar Quero from Triple-A Charlotte.
It’s not Teel’s first injury this year. He injured his hamstring in March’s World Baseball Classic, then while rehabbing, he sustained a right LCL (knee) sprain, delaying his 2026 debut until June 22.
Without Teel, here’s how the White Sox’s two catchers stack up, offensively:
Drew Romo: .134/.222/.313 (.535 OPS) in 37 games (126 PAs)
Quero: .187/.253/.233 (.486 OPS) in 55 games (172 PAs)
Chicago is leading the AL Central by one game. After so many years of futility, it seems likely it would want to add at the deadline, taking advantage of the team’s ahead-of-schedule success. Big-picture, the White Sox are probably not (yet) in a place to start pushing a lot of prospect chips toward the middle of the table. But if Teel is going to miss an extended period of time, would Chicago dip into the catching market at the trade deadline?
There are internal options. The 27-year-old Michael Turner is hitting .311 (.881 OPS) in Triple-A, but he has yet to make his big-league debut, and isn’t on the 40-man roster. The same goes for 23-year-old Boston Smith, who is hitting .297 (1.057) with 20 home runs across three minor-league levels this year. He’s currently in Double-A.
Incidentally, Teel wasn’t the only White Sox player to leave the game early last night: Shortstop Colson Montgomery fouled a ball into himself and sustained a “right shin contusion.” He’s listed as day to day, but his situation doesn’t seem as dire as Teel’s.
Process: Why Misiorowski’s outing was so short
If you’re checking the box scores from last night, you needn’t worry about Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski only going four innings. As Adam McCalvy at MLB reports, this was the plan all along.
Misiorowski skipped his last start before the All-Star Game with arm fatigue. So last night against the Mets, it had been 13 days since Misiorowski last pitched, meaning the Brewers were going to be cautious with their ace, building him back up to a full workload as the second half gets underway.
It didn’t have any harmful effects on the Brewers (63-37), who pounced on former ace Freddy Peralta, beating the Mets (42-59) 8-3.
One fun note: It was the 50th anniversary of late Brewers legend Henry Aaron’s 755th home run, and the Brewers booth hosted Aaron’s wife Billye. While they were chatting, Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn honored the legend by going deep — hitting one of three home runs for the Brewers (including Cooper Pratt’s first career dinger).
On the topic of fun, I looked up Aaron’s Baseball Reference page and saw something I’d never realized: Aaron, who wore No. 44, led the NL in home runs four times. In three of those four years — 1957, 1963 and 1966 — he finished with 44 home runs. (He also finished with 44 in 1969, but Willie McCovey led the league that year with 45.)
Handshakes and High Fives
What are the trade deadline archetypes? Tim Britton explains, giving recent examples and educated guesses on who could fit the roles this year.
The Angels hired a guy that once went by the nickname “The Baseball Spy.” Then they fired him, and you’ll never guess what for. (You have probably already correctly guessed what for. It’s in the name.)
Speaking of … the Angels were winless when trailing after eight innings. Last night, they snapped the streak, beating the Cardinals 3-2 on a walk-off hit-by-pitch.
It’s not exactly a blockbuster, but the trades have begun trickling in: The Dodgers acquired reliever Seth Halvorsen from the Rockies.
Carlos Beltrán, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday, says he spoke with the Mets about their managerial vacancy when Carlos Mendoza was fired. He also explains why he didn’t take the job (yet).
Congrats to Nolan Arenado, who logged his 2,000th hit last night.
Three of our writers went to Fanatics Fest, and reported on the coolest things they saw.
Off the wall: I’m sure by now most of you have heard of local Seattle legend Jimothy, but for the rest of you, I present: the internet’s new favorite animal.
Streak watch: The Red Sox came from behind, punctuated by a Caleb Durbin home run in the eighth inning, to win their 14th straight game (snapping the Orioles’ seven-game streak in the process). With a win tonight, they’ll tie the 1946 squad for a franchise record. (Looking ahead, the all-time record is 26 games by the (then-New York) Giants.)
Most-clicked in our last Windup: The 8-4-2-5-3 double play the Twins ran into over the weekend.
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