Dismissed Yankees Coach Played Role in Pitch Tipping

Martinez and Schulman were not wrong in their assessment that something was off. According to a piece from Ken Rosenthal, Judge was peeking over at his first base coach, Chapman, who picked up on what Jackson was throwing.

"The grip, indicating which type of pitch he was about to throw, was visible to Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman, according to multiple Jays sources," Rosenthal wrote in 2023. "Jackson, in a telephone interview Tuesday night, acknowledged he was tipping his slider, but said the timing of his delivery was more of an issue than his grip."

Rosenthal went on to confirm that it was Chapman from whom Judge was getting signs.

"Judge was not stealing signs illegally when Jays broadcasters Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez alertly noted him quickly glancing sideways during his eighth-inning at-bat against Jackson. He seemingly was looking at Chapman, who could have relayed Jackson's tell through hand signals, perfectly permissible behavior under Major League Baseball rules."

When Jackson was asked about it by Rosenthal, the pitcher figured out what he was doing wrong. He mentioned that Chapman had not picked up on his grip, but more the time he was taking for him to set on the mound.

"On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders," Jackson said. "They were kind of picking up on it.”

There haven't been any more incidents directly involving Chapman relaying signs to hitters, but the Yankees as a whole excel at doing this. According to a piece in The Athletic by Andy McCullough, Dennis Lin, and Cody Stavenhagen, the Yankees were named earlier in October as one of the best teams in the sport at picking up on a pitcher's tells.

During a September series with the Blue Jays, manager John Schneider mentioned that the entire league is aware of how good the Yankees are at it. In game two of the ALDS, the Yankees picked up on reliever Seranthony Dominguez's signs, and Judge tapped his helmet every time he was about to throw a splitter.

It's hard to say for sure whether Chapman was central to the organization's ability to take signs from opposing pitchers. One thing is sure. Chapman was important enough to the machine that the best hitter in the sport once peeked over at him multiple times during an at-bat to see what the pitcher was about to throw. If Chapman had continued, he might have been more subtle about it.

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