A few days after the World Series ended, a participant, the Houston Astros, were accused of stealing the opposing teams' signs.
While a runner on second base letting the batter know what pitch is being thrown is legal, setting up a camera behind centerfield might not be. And that's what the Astros have done the last few years. This gave them a clear view at the catcher, who gives the signs to the pitcher. They can figure out which pitch is coming, which significantly helps the batter, since they know what's coming. In this instance, the Astros would bang a trashcan in their clubhouse if an off speed pitch was coming.
Mike Fiers, former Astros' pitcher (2015-17), was the one who confessed to what his team was doing. The Athletic was the one to break this story, using quotes from Astros' players and personnel as well as pitchers around the league to piece it all together.
Fiers expressed his frustration and disdain at the practice.
"I just want the game to be cleaned up a little bit because there are guys who are losing their jobs because they're going in there not knowing," Fiers said. "Young guys getting hit around in the first couple of innings starting a game, and then they get sent down [to the minor leagues]."
In recent years, the Red Sox and Yankees have also been accused of and caught trying to steal signs. The Yankees said they assumed all the teams were doing it, and most teams probably are. The Blue Jays were infamous for having a "man in white" in centerfield.
Technically, stealing signs isn't illegal, it's been part of the game for decades. But there's something different from a runner on base letting his teammate know what's coming and setting up cameras and always knowing what's coming.
At first, the Astros said they would launch their own investigation, which won't amount to anything, but now the MLB is investigating and questioning several players about the incident.
Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner, said that it is feasible and quite possible that the punishment would exceed the usual fines and loss of draft picks. At the beginning of the owners' meeting, starting Nov 19, Manfred said the MLB was initiating a "really, really thorough investigation" as well as saying that this occurrence "relates to the integrity of the sport".
Shout out to Jomboy for tweeting out lots of these examples.
But does it really help? There's plenty of evidence that points to them stealing signs, but not a whole lot of evidence that shows the risk was worth it. ESPN's Sam Miller was able to pinpoint when this started, May 28, 2017. But the stats didn't really improve. Before May 28, Carlos Beltran was hitting .235/.277/.389 (78 wRC+), and after May 28, he was hitting 230/.286/.380 (76 wRC+). As a team, the Astros hit .268/.335/.447 (111 wRC+) before May 28, and .288/.350/.491 (126 wRC+) afterward, a 15 wRC+ point improvement. 100 is the league average in wRC+.
That might seem like an improvement, but in 2017 there were six teams that increased their pre May 28 batting numbers by 15+% after May 28. The homes games is where they had this advantage, and they're wRC+ only went up by 5 after the trash can banging started.
The one stat people may point to is the percentage of strikeouts between 2016 and 2017. In 2016, Astros non-pitchers struck out on 23.4% of at bats, and in 2017, Astros non-pitchers struck out on just 17.2%, the best in the league.
But there's a drastic difference in the lineups, including the usual starters. The 2017 Astros lineup looks more likely to make contact, as well as just better overall than the '16 team. The pre-season strikeout prediction was 17.7%, insanely close to the actual number. Even before Opening Night, there were clear signs that the '17 team would be able to make much better contact than the '16 team.
There will certainly be huge consequences for the Houston Astros for disobeying the MLB, and props to the MLB on enforcing their rule even though the Astros didn't really improve because of their cheating. Undoubtedly, the MLB will continue improving the fairness and integrity of the sport.
Real quick:
'The Most Disrespected NBA Superstar Part IV: In Conclusion' will be coming out soon, sorry for the delay. Also coming this week on Flashback Friday: 'The Story of Kobe's Retirement'.