The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.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 clearRemember 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 gameThis 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 CubsRecord: 56-44Last Power Ranking: T-5Second-half All-Star: Alex BregmanA 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.