New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was not happy Toronto Blue Jays broadcasters Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez even hinted at the possibility he was cheating during Monday’s game, but the team reportedly doesn’t have to worry about an investigation.
“I’m not happy about it, but people can say what they want,” Judge said, per Yankees reporter Bryan Hoch. “I’ve still got a game to play. I’ve got things to do.”
According to Hoch, New York discussed the situation with Major League Baseball and does not expect an ensuing investigation.
“Nothing that went on last night was against the rules,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Michael Dixon of Awful Announcing noted Shulman and Martinez were calling the game for Sportsnet and pointed out Judge appeared to look at something in the dugout during an at-bat that ended in a home run.
“Once again, he’s looking at something, then the next move is that powerful swing, and he blasts one to center field,” Martinez said. “I’ve not seen that before with him. I’ve not ever seen that.”
Sign-stealing has been a major topic in baseball in recent years, especially in regards to the Houston Astros and their run to the 2017 World Series title.
MLB fined the Astros $5 million, stripped them of their first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 and suspended then-general manager Jeff Luhnow and then-manager AJ Hinch for one year. Houston fired Luhnow and Hinch in the aftermath of the punishments.
In April 2022, Buster Olney of ESPN reported MLB fined New York $100,000 after an investigation revealed “the team’s players watched the monitors in 2015 and 2016 to discern pitch-sequence information that was then relayed to baserunners in the hope that they could communicate this to the batter.”
As for Judge, he had an excellent game in Monday’s 7-4 win with two home runs, three RBI and three walks in five plate appearances.
It was the first of a four-game series, and the topic of Judge looking into the dugout figures to be a storyline whenever the two teams face each other this season.
