Aaron Judge denies looking for signal before hitting home run against Blue Jays
Aaron Judge said he was trying to identify which of his Yankees teammates was yelling at plate umpire Clint Vondrak when he peeked into his own dugout before hitting a 462-foot home run in Toronto on Monday night.
Toronto’s broadcasters noticed Judge glancing at the dugout before his homer and speculated he was looking for some kind of signal.
“I saw it,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after the game.“Kind of odd that a hitter would be looking in that direction. He’s obviously looking in that direction for a reason. [We’ll] dive into it a little more tonight and tomorrow and make sure we’re doing everything we can to not make ourselves susceptible to tendencies.”
Judge looked sideways for a moment before driving a 114.9 mph scorcher off right-hander Jay Jackson.
The Toronto broadcasters seemed to suggest that Jackson had been tipping his pitches and Judge’s teammates were alerting him to what type of pitch would come next. Relaying such information is not forbidden in baseball, although it is frowned upon by many. However, it does break the rules if technology is used to steal signals: the Houston Astros were punished for such a scheme in 2020.
“There was kind of a lot of chirping from our dugout, which I really didn’t like in the situation,” Judge said. New York led 6-0 at the time.
Three pitches earlier, Vondrak ejected New York manager Aaron Boone for arguing a low strike call to Judge. Boone came out of the dugout to vent at Vondrak and crew chief James Hoye.
Judge said some of his teammates were still voicing their displeasure as his at-bat continued.
“I feel like after the manager does his thing it’s like, ‘Fellas, our pitcher has still got to go out there and make some pitches. We’ve got the lead, let’s just go to work here,’” Judge said. “I said a couple of things to some guys in the dugout and especially after the game. Hopefully it won’t happen again.”
Boone said he understood Judge’s frustration with the dugout distraction.
“Judgie was kind of looking over like, ‘I’m hitting here,’” Boone said.
Judge hit two solo homers Monday, his ninth and 10th of the season. It was his third multihomer game this year and the 30th of his career.