New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway and bench coach Jim Riggleman have both expressed suspicion that the Los Angeles Dodgers have been stealing pitch signs, writes Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.
“I think they have a system that helps them get some signs and stuff,’’ Riggleman posited following their 9-5 loss on Memorial Day. “If you do anything in your delivery that’s different, if your sequences are repetitive. We talked about it. Because they are taking some hefty cuts. They are not getting cheated.”
The Dodgers homered three times on Monday, and followed up last night with another trio en route to a 9-8 walk-off victory. They totaled 15 hits on the night, including seven off starter Noah Syndergaard and five off closer Edwin Díaz. Syndergaard admitted a similar feeling of skepticism to NBC Los Angeles‘ Michael Duarte, saying, “I feel like the only way they could have gotten to that was to cheat.”
Having thrown 20 of his 116 pitches at 99 mph or higher, the righty is certainly justified in his disbelief that Los Angeles could have hit him as freely as they did. With that said, there seems to be little evidence to back the claim beyond the visibly hefty swings from such hitters as Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Max Muncy, and Chris Taylor – to name just a few.
“Hitters are swinging in zones right now,’’ one scout told Kernan. “That’s why you are seeing so many home runs and so many strikeouts. They expect the pitch to be in a certain area and they are letting it fly.’’
The Dodgers currently boast the National League’s highest OPS (.841), wRC+ (124), wOBA (.355), and walk to strikeout ratio (0.58). Their pitch value against the fastball (49.9 runs above average) ranks third in the majors behind the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs, though they also have the majors’ third-highest values against the changeup (7.5) and slider (3.2) as well as the fifth-highest against the curveball (7.2). Their ability to see and drive the league’s four most-common pitches is certainly a curious development.
