Astros' Hinch brushes off pitch-tipping chatter: 'It's kind of funny'
Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch has a pretty simple solution to those hurlers who are apparently tipping their pitches to his club's hitters - don't be obvious.
"If they don't want to tip their pitches, then they should take consideration into (not) doing the same thing over and over again," Hinch said, according to ESPN.
"I think it's kind of funny," he added, in regards to the pitch-tipping paranoia.
The skipper's response comes in the wake of chatter by some that Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow and New York Yankees starting pitchers James Paxton and Luis Severino were tipping pitches against the Astros during their respective postseason series.
Following Game 5 of the ALDS, Glasnow said it was "pretty obvious" that he tipped his pitches. During Game 1 of the ALCS, Yankees coaches and players became angry when they heard whistling from the Astros' dugout, which they believed was an example of sign stealing, sources told Andy Martino of SNY.
In Game 2, third baseman Alex Bregman appeared to mouth "glove" to Houston's dugout after drawing a walk against Paxton.
Looks like Paxton is tipping or they have the signs. Bregman mouths 'glove' then gives a signal touching the helmet pic.twitter.com/NMh9dD2NZt
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 14, 2019
And then in Game 3, former Yankee and current TV analyst Alex Rodriguez picked up on a trend that he noticed with Severino's pitching.
To recap Severino's first inning:
— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) October 15, 2019
36 pitches
18 fastballs
18 secondary pitches
11 swings on fastballs
5 swings on off-speed pitches, no misses
No chases on off-speed pitches.
If you look at Astros' hitters body language, this screams tipping.
#postseason
There's been no definitive evidence that the Astros are taking advantage of tipped pitches, which isn't against the rules. However, digital spying - which Houston has also been accused of - is a different story.
The Cleveland Indians filed a complaint after they observed a man reportedly associated with the Astros pointing a cellphone into their dugout during Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS. The Boston Red Sox ended up removing the same man from their ballpark after they noticed he was doing something similar in Game 1 of the ALCS. MLB cleared the Astros of any wrongdoing in both cases.
The league has implemented rules to crack down on digital spying.