Using video with enhanced audio of last Saturday night’s game, former Met and current SNY analyst Todd Zeile charged that the Yankees had pitcher Taijuan Walker’s tips or signs and were signaling their hitters in real-time with whistles.
Zeile indicated that the Yankees were using one long whistle for a changeup and a short whistle for a fastball. He showed a video that seemed to back that up on home runs by Kyle Higashioka and Brett Gardner.
Aaron Boone denied the allegations.
“It’s much ado about nothing,” the Yankee manager said. “There’s nothing going on. I’m certain of that. So I don’t know what to say other than when I see Todd, I’ll tell him so, and I think the people in the know know nothing was going on.”
The issue came to a head in the series finale when Francisco Lindor homered and made a whistling gesture as he rounded the bases. When Giancarlo Stanton homered, he stopped mid-trot to tell Lindor he didn’t appreciate the implication. The Mets thought Walker was tipping his pitches or the Yankees had somehow stolen their signs.
The Yankees claimed it was reliever Wandy Peralta in the dugout trying to encourage the Bombers’ hitters.
Boone and the Yankees were furious when they believed the Astros were doing this in the 2019 American League Championship Series. MLB investigated and while they later found the Astros had a sophisticated, electronic system for stealing signs and relaying them in real-time to their hitters, they found nothing to the whistling allegation at the time.
Luis Gil Steps Up
Luis Gil has shown he has the stuff to contribute to this Yankees team. His last start, he showed he had the resiliency to grind out a start even when his stuff was not that sharp. Saturday, he has another chance to show he can help the Bombers in the postseason.
The 23-year old will make his sixth career big league start with the Yankees’ playoff hopes on his shoulders. He earned that right not just with the impressive 18.2 scoreless innings he pitched to begin his big league career, but also the way he worked without his best command and after being hit hard early in his last start.
He put the Yankees in a 4-0 hole before they even came to bat last time out, but wound up sticking around to give them six innings and allowing just one more run. That gave the Yankees bats a chance to catch up and come back for a win over the Twins.
“He’s got something different about him, I don’t know. I can’t tell what it is,” Aaron Judge said of Gil after that performance. “I know he’s got great stuff, but he’s just got this chip on his shoulder. He’s got a little bit of attitude. He knows he’s the man out there on the field.”
Gil, who goes into Saturday’s game with a 2.88 ERA, isn’t worrying about his role in the postseason.
“I’m just trying to do the best I can out there to take care of my job and my responsibilities,” Gil said through the Yankees interpreter before Friday’s series opener against Cleveland. “I’m putting a lot of heart into this, and I’m just trying to win every single game I pitch and hopefully I make the playoff roster.”
LOAISIGA UPDATE
Jonathan Loaisiga, who has been on the injury list since Sept. 4 with a shoulder strain, threw for the first time on Friday. It’s an encouraging first step, but Aaron Boone isn’t counting on him being back in the bullpen any time soon.
With so many injured pitchers working their way back — Luis Severino (Tommy John) and Domingo German (shoulder inflammation) — the Yankees are not going to rush anyone.
“We’re not going to put anyone in a situation where we feel like we’re going to put them at any greater risk if they’re ready to return and can they return,” the Yankees manager said. “Same goes with Loaisiga, for example, who started his throwing program today. If it progresses like it’s supposed to, and he gets back to the point where he’s able to pitch for us, then that’ll be. If not, then we have to live with that. So their physical health and well-being will be at the front of it.”
Loaisiga had been one of the Yankees’ most reliable relievers this season, earning five saves as Aroldis Chapman dealt with an elbow issue and struggles. He pitched to a 2.25 ERA in a career-high 68 innings pitched over a career-high 54 appearances.
