Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros are investigating allegations the team illegally used a camera to steal signs from catchers to pitchers during their 2017 World Series-winning campaign.
A report in The Athletic website quoted former Astros pitcher and three anonymous sources as saying they stole signs from opposing teams during their home 2017 playoff games.
Catchers flash signs to pitchers using their fingers to call for certain pitch types – such as fastball, curveball or slider. The Astros had a camera positioned in the outfield which would monitor opposing catchers’ signals. Knowing what kind of pitch is likely to be thrown gives an advantage to the batter and the MLB prohibits the use of electronic equipment to steal signs. It’s rumoured the system was started by an unidentified struggling hitter and coach.
Houston Astros strikeout rates 2013-2019
If you dive into Houston’s strikeout rates over the past seven years this paints a much clearer picture of the allegations. Between 2013-2017 they were either last or second last in strikeouts in the American League. In 2017 they topped this statistic and went on to win the World Series. They were one of our MLB picks to win it all this season but ended up losing to Washington in game seven at Minute Maid Park
Houston went from second worst strikeout rate in the American Leaue in 2015 to the best in 2017 👀#HoustonAstros #Astros pic.twitter.com/HZU6qRljrr
— Pickswise – NFL, NBA, MLB, CFB (@Pickswise) November 13, 2019
“The Houston Astros organisation has begun an investigation in cooperation with Major League Baseball,” the Astros said in a statement on Tuesday.
“It would not be appropriate to comment further on this matter at this time.”
Yu Darvish receives apologies on Twitter
The Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in game seven of the 2017 World series to claim their first championship title. Yu Darvish lasted just 3 1/3 innings and allowed eight runsin two horrific starts for the Dodgers which included the pivotal game seven.
The theory had been that Darvish, who now plays for the Chicago Cubs, was tipping his pitches during the pair of bad outings. However with Tuesday’s reports emerging fans took to Twitter to apologize to Davish for the comments they’d made about him two years ago. One fan tweeted “I would like to issue an apology to Yu Darvish for the mean things I said about him during the 2017 World Series”
Astros favored in 2020 World Series odds
The Astros were just one win away from a second World Series triump in three years. Now the question remains, are they only a good baseball team because they cheated? They opened up as +600 odds for the 2020 World Series and it will be interesting how they perform next year pending the MLB’s investigation.
Let us know on Twitter what you think of the allegations.
