HOUSTON — José Caballero arrived to the Yankees with the reputation of easily getting under opponent’s skin.
But he may have the same knack with umpires, which is not nearly as productive.
Caballero got ejected for the second time in two weeks Tuesday in the fourth inning of the 7-1 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.
The utilityman was upset after he was hit on the leg by a bouncing pitch from Framber Valdez, but he went around on his swing, with home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus ruling it a strike. He did not get much leash for arguing before De Jesus gave him a quick hook.
“At this point, all I’m thinking is I can’t even look at them,” Caballero said. “Not really [warranted], but at this point, I can’t get thrown out there.
“I was just explaining, ‘How can you see everything happen? You’re paying attention to the strike zone, paying attention to the ball bouncing, paying attention that I’m jumping out of the way, you’re paying attention [to] did the ball hit me, and you also see that I swung? That’s crazy.’ And he tossed me.”
It was a brutal spot for Caballero to get his second ejection as a Yankee, on a night when he was starting at third base for his right-handed bat against the lefty Valdez. Caballero, who had doubled and stolen third in his first at-bat, was likely to move to the outfield by the end of the night, too, as a defensive replacement for Giancarlo Stanton. But instead he hit the showers early with lefty-hitting Ryan McMahon replacing him at third base, and Jasson Domínguez eventually replacing Stanton in left field.
Manager Aaron Boone, who did not get out in time to protect his player from getting tossed, said he didn’t “love it,” but added that he was “not as upset” as he was when Caballero got ejected in extra innings against the Rays last month in Tampa and put the Yankees in an even tougher spot with a shorter bench.
“Look, I don’t want our guys getting ejected from the game,” Boone said. “As much as I can, I try to interject. He’s too important to our team and to this game tonight. So it’s something we got to continue to talk about and work on and hopefully improve on. But I don’t want to put this in the Tampa class.”
Paul Blackburn gave the rest of the bullpen a breather, pitching the final two innings in relief of Max Fried and striking out four. He also made a nice play to end the game, snaring a soft liner and throwing to first for a double play.
Austin Slater (hamstring strain) started a third rehab game on Tuesday night with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 1-for-3 with a walk and playing seven innings in left field. He figures to return from the IL by this weekend. … Cody Bellinger was named the AL Player of the Week on Tuesday after batting .444 with a 1.278 OPS last week.