M’s Rojas: Yankees’ Schmidt ‘was clearly tipping’
NEW YORK — With a little nod of his neck as he took his lead off second base, Josh Rojas seemed to signal Mariners teammate Dylan Moore that a cutter was coming from Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt.
Moore drove the 93.1 mph pitch 386 feet into the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead, helping Seattle to a 6-3 win over New York on Tuesday night.
“Everybody’s always trying to look for something,” Rojas said Wednesday. “We’re out there trying to find anything we can to gain an advantage.”
MLB Network showed a frame-by-frame comparison of Schmidt in the set position with Moore at the plate in the third inning. Rojas could see none of the ball before a sinker, a little of the ball ahead of a sweeper and a significant portion before a cutter.
Moore had fouled off Schmidt’s first full-count pitch, a sweeper, before the right-hander came back with a cutter.
“You can see in the video he was clearly tipping,” Rojas said.
Schmidt, 28, said after the game the Yankees were aware of the tipping and quickly worked to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.
“Obviously tipping is a part of this game and it’s a factor and it’s always in the back of our heads and something that we’re well aware of,” Schmidt said. “They got two runs on it. But I was able to make adjustments after we saw the video and just part of the game. Another factor in it.”
Schmidt said tipping had been an issue with him in the past.
“It’s just something that we’re constantly with all our guys paying attention to and working on,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Mariners manager Scott Servais, a big league catcher from 1991 to 2001, said technology has forced teams to become more alert to tipping.
“You didn’t have all the cameras and all the people working in front offices. It was actually a learned skill,” Servais said. “The days that you weren’t playing, you’re just locked in on that pitcher. Where does he comes set? When does his hand go into his glove? Where’s his eyes? Does he bite his lip when he throws his slider? There’s all kinds of stuff that happens, and in our day, you would just sit and stare at the guy until you try to figure it out for yourself.”
Asked who was the best at picking up tips, Servais brought up his own experience.
“Veteran players that didn’t play much — like myself — knew what to look for,” he said. “I always thought catchers had a good sense for it because they all knew that pitchers all did something a little bit different.”
Rojas said figuring out pitch tips “is a pretty common thing.”
“Even if you have something, it’s still pretty hard to get a hit,” he said.
Major League Baseball’s approval in 2022 of the PitchCom device for communication between pitchers and catchers has largely eliminated catchers signaling pitchers — and the ability of runners at second to pick up those signs. That causes runners to focus on the pitchers.
“Now it’s strictly a game of trying to find little things like that that will give you a tell,” Rojas said.
Chicago Cubs left-hander Jordan Wicks was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday, one day after a right oblique strain forced him out his start against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wicks left the 3-0 loss in the second inning, walking off the field accompanied by a trainer after giving up a two-out single to Dylan Carlson.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before Saturday’s game against the Cardinals that the team was still awaiting some test results on Wicks.
Wicks gave up two hits and struck out two in his first start and second appearance since returning from a strained left forearm. He was sidelined for six weeks.
The Cubs recalled right-hander Keegan Thompson from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move. Thompson is 1-1 with a 4.97 ERA in nine relief appearances with the Cubs this year.
The 24-year-old Wicks is 1-2 with a 4.18 ERA in seven games (six starts) with Chicago this season. He was a first-round pick in the 2021 amateur draft out of Kansas State.
With Wicks and Ben Brown sidelined by injuries, Kyle Hendricks likely will return to the rotation. The 34-year-old Hendricks has pitched 8⅔ scoreless innings across three relief appearances this month, but he is 0-4 with a 10.57 ERA in seven starts this season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
The Baltimore Orioles have placed right-hander Kyle Bradish on the15-day injured list with a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament.
Bradish left Friday night’s start against the Philadelphia Phillies after five innings and 74 pitches, complaining about his elbow. He missed the first month of the season with a sprained UCL and rehabbed the injury instead of undergoing surgery.
Since returning, Bradish has gone 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA in eight starts. Bradish broke out last season, going 12-7 while posting the third-best ERA in the American League (2.83).
The Orioles (45-24) have already lost starting pitchers John Means and Tyler Wells to season-ending UCL injuries.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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