Dodgers Respond To Padres Pitcher's Grip Stealing Accusations: 'Sounds Like An Excuse'
The Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday completed a dominant series win over the San Diego Padres in dramatic fashion.
A shaky start by Tony Gonsolin staked the Padres to a 5-0 lead through the first three innings. But an offensive explosion led to an eight run fourth for Los Angeles, capped off by a grand slam from superstar outfielder Mookie Betts.
The Dodgers racked up six hits in the inning against starter Seth Lugo, including two doubles and the aforementioned homer. And after the game, Lugo said he believed they had some help putting together the impressive rally against him.
Lugo claimed that runners on second base were stealing his grip and relaying the upcoming pitch to the hitters; what he said were "bush league" tactics.
READ: PADRES PITCHER ACCUSES DODGERS OF ‘BUSH LEAGUE’ PITCH STEALING TACTICS
Several Dodgers were asked about it after the game Monday, but the Los Angeles Times reported on more expanded responses from most of the players involved. As well as the team's manager. And unsurprisingly, they did not take it well.
SAN DIEGO, CA - AUGUST 7: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pumps his fist as he rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres on August 7, 2023 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
Dodgers Resoundingly Deny Stealing Grips
Manager Dave Roberts addressed the situation directly, describing Lugo's comments as an "excuse."
“I heard a little of that,” Roberts said. “It’s surprising coming from him. It sounds like an excuse.” He also denied that the Dodgers used "gamesmanship" to get an edge in this situation.
“I don’t think was the case,” Roberts continued.
Other players chimed in with similar responses.
“That’s news to me," Freddie Freeman said. Jason Heyward was even more apathetic: “If that’s what he wants to put out there, then cool, I guess.”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about," David Peralta added. Peralta also made the obvious point that Lugo made mistake after mistake in that fateful fourth inning.
“If you see all his pitches we hit,” Peralta said, “they were right in the middle.”
The Dodgers have in the past been accused of stealing signs or other similar tactics. Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara said in 2022 he believed the Dodgers knew what was coming during one of their matchups.
But Freeman has an explanation for why some pitchers come after LA hitters.
“We seem to get accused a lot," Freeman said. "But that just means we’re putting up big crooked numbers on people. That’s a good thing.”
Video Disproves Lugo's Accusations
Teams do frequently look for every possible advantage they can find. Sometimes that crosses over into illegal territory, as with the 2017 Houston Astros.
The implementation of the PitchCom system has made sign stealing a thing of the past. But checking on grips is another (legal) way of helping out teammates.
For years, pitchers were using illegal substances to increase spin rates, as former pitcher Trevor Bauer once demonstrated.
The Dodgers, and likely everyone else, may try to determine pitcher grips with runners on base. Yet the video of Lugo's fourth inning doesn't show any obvious signals. And as Peralta explained, virtually every pitch he threw that got hit hard was a clear mistake. Especially the 92mph meatball thrown to Betts.
It's understandable why Lugo would be upset and looking for an explanation after surrendering eight runs in an inning. But the likely answer, as usual, to give up fewer runs, is to pitch better.