NEW YORK — With a little nod of his neck as he took his lead off second base,
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.
