Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson admitted he was tipping his pitches Monday night before allowing a mammoth home run to New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
The blast sparked a bit of controversy when the Jays TV broadcast noticed Judge casting a quick glance toward the Yankees dugout while he was in the batter’s box, suggesting that he may have been receiving some advance notice on what pitch was coming.
Jackson, who was demoted to Class AAA Buffalo after Monday’s game, said Tuesday in an interview with The Athletic that his grip and his timing may have allowed the Yankees to figure out what was coming.
“From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,” Jackson said. “It was (less) my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it.”
Although Judge said his sneak peek was in response to ‘a lot of chirping from our dugout,’ he was most likely looking at first base coach Travis Chapman, whom several Jays sources told The Athletic was able to see Jackson’s grip — in plenty of time to relay that information to Judge.
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While the unusual turn of events leading up to Judge’s 462-foot home run raised questions of possible cheating, that type of sign-stealing is completely within baseball’s accepted rules — unlike the Houston Astros’ electronic sign-stealing, trash can-banging scandal in 2017.
However, the flap did carry over into Tuesday’s game between the two teams. The Blue Jays complained to MLB officials that the Yankees’ base coaches were standing outside the dimensions of the coaching box, potentially allowing them to get a better view of pitchers’ grips.
That led to an on-field argument when the Yankees asked umpires to force Jays third base coach Luis Rivera to stay inside his box.