During Ben Rice’s at-bat in the first inning of Sunday’s 4-3 win over Toronto, Aaron Judge was at second base, clearly waving his arms, as was Cody Bellinger at first.
It wasn’t the first time the Yankees didn’t hide that they’d picked up on an opposing team’s signs — and this time, it worked exceptionally well, as Rice hit a three-run homer off Max Scherzer.
After the game, Toronto manager John Schneider told reporters what other teams know well: “They were relaying pitches, they’re good at it. Major League Baseball knows the Yankees are good when they have something. Maybe I’m the only one that’s going to say it publicly. But we have to do a better job of making sure we’re not giving anything away.”
He’s got a point, because the Yankees don’t intend to stop.
“I’m sure it’s probably frustrating as a pitcher,” Bellinger said. “I don’t know what they think about it. For us, we have an idea of it pregame. You kind of go out, look for it in the game and if you see it, you see it.”
And unlike some other teams, the Yankees aren’t shy about letting everyone know when they’ve seen it.
“I guess we’re good at it,’’ Bellinger said. “It feels like a lot of people do it right now. … We’re just so obvious with it [and] with our motion. That’s probably what it is. A lot of teams are discreet. We say, ‘We got it.’ ”
For Toronto, there’s not much they can do about it.
Even Scherzer, who gave up the blast to Rice, said the Yankees’ actions are “part of the game.”
As Austin Wells said afterward: “Every team we play tries to relay signs, whether it’s [about] location or pitch. Everybody does.’’
The Yankees also had great success earlier in the year against Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz, who was tipping his pitches with runners on base, as the Yankees took a game from the Mariners.
And a week later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Atlanta coach Eddy Perez got into an argument when Chisholm was picking up pitches from Rafael Montero from second base, which, just like everything else the Yankees have done in this department, is by the books.
On Sunday, it helped get them another much-needed win.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
