Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media reports that Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner has been fined $2,000 by Major League Baseball for violating a pace of play rule. Gardner received the fine in mid-June for taking too long to get into the batter’s box in April and May.
Gardner, 34, has declined to comment about the fine. The veteran enters Tuesday’s action batting .251/.346/.365 with five home runs, 21 RBI, and 45 runs scored in 309 plate appearances this season.
It appears that this is the first instance of MLB enforcing its pace of play rules, at least publicly.
