Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Andres Munoz (75) celebrates after a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at T-Mobile Park on July 6. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Some Seattle Mariners Drawing Unfair Criticism For Andres Munoz' Pitch-Tipping Against Yankees

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Brady Farkas | Last updated Jul 11, 2025 6:00 PM ET

NEW YORK - By this point, it's clear that the New York Yankees were relaying signs on Thursday night while Seattle Mariners star Andres Munoz was on the mound in the top of the bottom of the ninth inning.

We covered that here.

The real question, at this point, seems to be about why the Mariners didn't handle things better once they knew that the signs were being relayed. You can hear some of the criticism below on MLB Network, as they wonder why pitching coach Pete Woodworth, or some of the position players, didn't go speak to him.

Yankee baserunners were seemingly signaling to batters from second base while Andrés Muñoz was pitching last night in the Bronx.

MLB Now breaks down what they saw. pic.twitter.com/dA5GzgyvYU
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) July 11, 2025

So let's replay things a bit....

Trent Grisham led off the inning with a single and then Aaron Judge flew out to center field. Grisham advanced to second on a single by Cody Bellinger. At that point, he was starting to flail at second base, alerting Jazz Chisholm Jr. what was coming, but Chisholm flew out.

With two outs, Grisham continued to signal, and Cal Raleigh went out and talked to Munoz with an 0-2 count on Ben Rice, likely once a few pitches had passed and he had realized what has happening.

I documented the sequence to Rice below, in real time.

Rice gets down 0-2, looks at a 100 MPH FB for a ball... mound visit...

Slider outside. 2-2 count. Seven Nation Army playing, crowd going nuts.

Slider in the dirt. 3-2, runners on the move....

Slider outside. Ball 4. Bases loaded. Austin Wells, who homered earlier this series…
— Brady Farkas (@RefuseToLosePod) July 11, 2025

Once Raleigh goes out and alerts Munoz to what's happening, and Munoz doesn't make the adjustment, the fault now lies with him. It's no longer on Raleigh, or any position players, or any coaches.

With the bases loaded after the walk, Bellinger then wound up at second, and he continued to relay the signs. Again, another fault of Munoz, and something he'll have to adjust moving forward.

The Mariners are 48-45 after the loss and they'll take on the Tigers on Friday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. PT.

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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