The Blue Jays aren't satisfied with Aaron Judge's postgame explanation for looking at the Yankees' dugout moments before a solo home run in Monday's game.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters on Tuesday the team has reached out to MLB to determine whether Judge and the Yankees were cheating during his at-bat in the top of the eighth inning. In particular, Schneider asked MLB to look into New York base coaches' positioning, which was well outside their designated boxes along the base paths.
As noted by team broadcasters Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez, Judge looked side-eyed toward New York's dugout along the first-base path multiple times in his at-bat vs. reliever Jay Jackson. He even did so moments before hammering a solo home run to give the Yankees a 7-0 lead:
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Asked about his at-bat after the game, Judge said he was merely trying to see who in the Yankees' dugout was "chirping." He added he didn't appreciate players were talking minutes after manager Aaron Boone was tossed after arguing a called strike against Judge.
Schneider, however, didn't put stock in Judge's explanation:
"I'm not in the business of buying postgame media," he said, via Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic. "It’s a really accomplished hitter who won the MVP last year. … I just found it a little funny that he was worrying about his dugout while he was in the batter’s box."
According to Shi Divaldi of Sportsnet, MLB doesn't believe a major violation took place, but is looking at the positioning of the Yankees' base coaches. They were outside their designated boxes, as pictured below, during the eighth inning:
Schneider insinuated the base coaches' positioning outside the box may have made it easier for Judge to get information about an incoming pitch:
"It's easy to look at a runner at second when you're hitting, tough to look into the dugout," Schneider said. "Probably a little bit easier to look at a coach. ... 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."
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Judge for what it's worth took exception to Shulman and Buck's insinuation he was cheating. Via Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch:
It's up to MLB to determine whether the Blue Jays' complaint about New York base coaches' positioning is merited. But it's also possible that either Jackson or catcher Alejandro Kirk was tipping pitches, which would not amount to sign-stealing.
Schneider, however, said Kirk was not tipping pitches "to his eye." He also said it's up to his team to make sure they're not tipping pitches, adding rules are in place to keep opponents from finding information they shouldn't normally have access to.
"If our guys were giving stuff away, we have to be better at that," Schneider said. "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."