HOUSTON -- If you paid close attention to the final few innings Saturday night, you might have noticed Christian Vazquez doing something out of the norm.
Even with no baserunners on, the Red Sox catcher gave multiple signs to all of his relievers -- Heath Hembree, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel -- as if there was a runner standing on second base. In years past this would definitely not be considered the norm. This year? It has been routine.
"Because there are cheaters out there," said Vazquez when asked after the Red Sox' 5-4 win over the Astros why the sequence of signs.
It should be noted that this was not a product of worrying solely about the Astros. The Red Sox relievers have been doing this dating back their late-April series in Toronto. And according to pitching coach Dana LeVangie it is simply a product of where the game has gone.
"Our whole bullpen is using multiple signs when they come in," LeVangie said. "There are a lot of things going on. I don't know everything that is going on. But late-inning relievers come in, one or two pitches, sometimes it's easier to follow their lead, so we're just guarding against everything. We're just trying to stay ahead of everything. Stay ahead of the curve."
The Red Sox started tossing around the idea of using multiple signs with nobody on way back in spring training, knowing that it had become an even more prevalent part of the game. It was, after all, teams stealing signs that necessitated a record number of catchers visits last season, paving the way for the limitation of such delays this year.
And it should be noted that the Red Sox are far from the only team taking such an approach, with multiple clubs implementing similar strategies. Houston, for instance, was giving multiple signs with nobody on against the Sox Thursday night, even with control of any potential home-field cameras.
"We talked about it spring training, being smart about things," LeVangie said. "We didn't (execute the strategy at the start of the season). We probably should have, but we didn't. We're just trying to eliminate that one big hit, which could be a three-run home run. If they're stealing signs or whatever, we're ahead of it."
