Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters on Tuesday that the team has requested Major League Baseball to look into the Yankees’ positioning of their base coaches following Monday’s controversy regarding Aaron Judge peeking to his right before his second home run of the night.
“I think that there’s boxes on the field for a reason,” Schneider said, via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “I think when it’s a glaring 30 feet where you’re not in that spot, you kind of put two and two together a little bit.
“It’s easy to look at a runner at second when you’re hitting. Tough to look into the dugout. Easier to look at a coach.”
Judge told reporters after the game that he was glaring into his own dugout as teammates were “chirping” at the umpires after Aaron Boone had been ejected for arguing a strike call on Judge, and the Yankee captain didn’t care for the continued chirping while the Yanks held a 6-0 lead in the eighth inning.
That didn’t seem like an explanation that Schneider was buying.
“I know that he means nothing but business and wants to win,” Schneider said. “I just found it a little funny he was worrying about his dugout when he was in the batter’s box.”
Schneider did also acknowledge that the Blue Jays needed to tighten up their process in terms of relaying signs, as sign stealing is a common, and not illegal, part of the game (unless it is done with the aid of technology). But the issue for Toronto clearly lied with how New York’s base coaches were positioned, though base coaches being outside of their boxes along the baselines is hardly a rarity.
"If our guys were giving stuff away, we have to be better at that,” Schneider said, via Davidi. “If things are being picked up from people that aren't in places they should be, that's where I think the line should be drawn.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)