By Larry Stone / The Seattle Times
Jose Caballero is a certified pest, in the best possible baseball sense of the word.
He’s the guy working the pitch clock to perfection, to the annoyance of the opposing pitcher (or catcher, in Martin Maldonado’s case). He’s the guy whose elbow just happens to be in the way of the pitch — oops — earning a free ticket to first base. He’s the guy exaggerating when dancing off the bag, doing everything in his power to distract the opposition.
“He does all those little things and drives the other team crazy — which I like,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
There has been a lot to like about Caballero, who is easily the biggest positive surprise of the Mariners season. When he was called up April 15, mostly as a placeholder while Sam Haggerty recovered from a concussion, the name was unknown to all but the most hardcore fans. Minimal expectations were attached to him, from outside and within the organization.
All Caballero did was seize the job at second base, where Kolten Wong had been flailing. He did it by maximizing his rare chances and continuing to give Servais reasons to pencil “Caballero” back into the lineup. Now he is a fixture at second base and proving to be one of the best in the American League at the position.
“I just tried to do everything I could to stay here in the big leagues,” Caballero said. “Do the little things and make Skip happy. It’s nice to be up here, and I wanted to prove that I belonged.”
Caballero, 26, has proved it by racking up a team-best .397 on-base percentage, a huge boon for the offense-challenged Mariners. He’s proven it with outstanding defense, trailing only the Rangers’ Marcus Semien in the “outs above average” metric for AL second basemen. He’s proven it with disruptive baserunning, powered by his 29.2 feet-per-second speed, well above league average and trailing only Julio Rodriguez (29.5) on the Mariners.
Mostly, Caballero has proved it by providing a never-ending spark with his relentless style of play. He’s stolen nine bases in 11 attempts and been hit by a pitch eight times (sixth-most in the majors despite his late arrival).
Caballero’s WAR (wins above replacement) of 1.4 trails only Semien among AL second basemen in the FanGraphs calculation (minimum 100 plate appearances), and his Baseball Reference WAR, also 1.4, is higher than Rodriguez’s (1.3). By contrast, Wong’s minus-1.3 Baseball Reference WAR ranks 554th among 556 MLB players, so Caballero’s emergence has been a godsend at what had been a position of great weakness.
“There is a different profile for every player, and I know my profile. I just try to use it for the advantage of the team,” Caballero said.
Foremost, that means finding a way to get on base by any means necessary.
“It feels great to help the team by getting on base and keeping the line moving,” Caballero said. “I just try to get on base no matter how — whatever it takes. Let the power hitters do their job. And I try to do my job.”
Even if it leaves him bruised.
“I’m not trying to get hit, but I’m just trying to make the pitcher uncomfortable,” Caballero said. “They don’t see many hitters step up on the plate, like I do. That makes it a little harder for them. If they make a mistake and miss their spot, if it’s to the middle, I’m ready to do some damage. And if they miss it way inside, they’re going to hit me. Either-or, I’m winning, I feel like. If they spot it [in the right location], that’s a good job for them. But I’m trying to make them uncomfortable.”
That’s also the goal behind Caballero’s practice of milking the pitch clock by remaining in the box but disengaged from the pitcher until the last possible moment. The new rule states you have be prepared to hit at eight seconds, but Caballero often won’t raise his head and engage until about nine or 10 seconds are left. It’s a trick he learned in the minors.
“It’s something to get in the pitcher’s head,” he said. “I’m not trying to get enemies or anything, but I’m just trying to make them think about something else instead of just focusing on getting me out. They have to focus on something else. That’s just playing mind games, you know?”
Maldonado, the veteran Houston catcher, and Astros pitcher Brandon Bielak took issue with that approach during a Caballero at-bat in the fourth inning of an early May game at Minute Maid Park. Maldonado and Caballero could be seen jawing during a pitch, and then, after a swing and miss by Caballero, they went nose to nose. The benches cleared, but order was quickly restored.
“That was a situation where he wasn’t happy that I was taking my time,” Caballero said. “He wanted me to get ready to hit, and I was just playing my game, you know? And he didn’t like it. I didn’t like that he didn’t like it. So that’s the whole thing. But I was so glad nothing went past the line and we controlled the situation.”
Servais fully appreciates that kind of agitation caused by Caballero.
“I love how he goes about an at-bat,” he said. “This guy’s game awareness is well beyond his experience level at this level. He just understands what the game needs and calls for.
“He’s got a little edge to him. I’ve talked about that since the minute he got here. He’s got some energy, and we need that. You need those young guys, or those guys trying to make a mark in this league that bring it every day, and he’s certainly one of them.”
Caballero insists he’s not trying to make the other team mad. But sometimes it just happens.
“The other team has to know I’m just trying to be on base,” he said. “It’s nothing against any pitcher or anything. It’s just my type of game that I just want to be on base. And I just want to make the pitcher think about something else than just throwing strikes and trying to dominate me. I’m trying to be in their heads.”
Spoken like a true pest.
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