Padres Break Silence On Red Sox's Viral iPad Pitch-Tipping During Broadcast

Any time people catch wind that there might be "sign-stealing," especially with the aid of technology, it's going to catch fire with certain segments of the baseball fan base. But the fact is, there's a massive difference between stealing pitch signals (which are now relayed into the pitcher's ear, so it's nearly impossible to pick up as an opponent) and gathering intel on tells in a pitcher's windup.

In fact, pitching coach Ruben Niebla downplayed the situation to the point where he said the broadcast didn't affect his view of how Suárez is treated by opponents.

“I know it was made a big deal,” Niebla said, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic. “I got 36 DM messages about it. But it’s like, ‘Yeah, we already know.’”

Although the Red Sox may have accurately caught onto the difference between Suárez's fastball and changeup grips from his previous outing, Niebla said the Padres had been monitoring his tells far longer.

“The whole year,” Niebla said, per Lin. "That’s one of our things in spring training where we’re like, ‘Hey, this is what you do to tip pitches.’ And … through the course of the year, when you’re working through battles or however you want to put it, some tendencies start showing back up. And we’re always cross-checking, cross-checking, cross-checking.

Meanwhile, Padres manager Mike Shildt not only said that the Red Sox's behavior was expected, but that the San Diego dugout would look the same if there was a camera in the right place.

“I mean, you could pan in our dugout and look at our dugout, and it’s the same thing,” manager Mike Shildt said. “You could take a picture of anything. … The fact of the matter is it’s taking place all the time. Now it’s just become more public.”

The moment remains fascinating, but not because the Red Sox are in any way doing something nefarious.