Padres Pitcher Accuses Dodgers Of ‘Bush League’ Pitch Stealing Tactics

The Los Angeles Dodgers demolished the San Diego Padres on Monday afternoon, riding an eight-run fourth inning to a 13-7 victory.

And the Padres' starting pitcher believes they had some inappropriate help.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Seth Lugo and others in the Padres clubhouse "were convinced" that the Dodgers knew "at least some of the time what pitches were coming."

The accusation stems from Lugo's belief that something changed after he allowed just two hits with two strikeouts through the first third innings. But in the fourth, Los Angeles jumped all over Lugo for six hits. Most notably, a game changing grand slam from Mookie Betts.

According to Lugo, the Dodgers were "spying the way was gripping pitches and relaying that to the batter." The Union-Tribune quoted him saying he believed that they used "bush league" tactics to decipher his grip and relay the upcoming pitch to the hitter.

Manager Bob Melvin didn't disagree, but claimed "every team does it." Dodgers' players though, comprehensively denied Lugo's allegations.

So what does the video show?

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)

Video Highlights Seem To Exonerate The Dodgers

According to the report, outfielder James Outman categorically denied seeing Lugo's grip.

“I couldn’t see anything,” Outman said. “He was kind of hiding it with his glove.”

Mookie Betts also rolled his eyes at the accusation. “If that’s what he wants to think, sure,” Betts said. “But nobody’s paying attention to that.”

One of the game's biggest hits came from Jason Heyward, having a resurgent season in LA. His fourth inning double scored two runs, cutting the Padres' lead to just 5-3 after San Diego scored five runs in the third. And it came with David Peralta on second base, the exact situation Lugo said the Dodgers used to their advantage.

But video of the pitch doesn't seem to show anything that could be considered a signal from Peralta to the hitter.

Lugo takes his grip, Peralta gets set without any obvious hand motions or body signals, and Lugo delivers the pitch just a second or two afterwards.

Don't see any "bush league" tactics there.

Similarly, just before Betts hit his grand slam, Outman doesn't make any obvious signals towards the plate.

Same thing with Freddie Freeman on second base and David Peralta hitting earlier in the inning.

In that video, Lugo's glove does seem to be more effective at obscuring his grip. Although again, there's no signal from Freeman.

Lugo though, was convinced. “You try to stay locked in and focused on executing pitches,” he said. “And some other stuff just slips your mind.

Outman though, said the explanation for the Dodgers' outburst is that they just...have good players. “We have a couple MVPs on our team,” he said. “So when we get Mookie up with the bases loaded and less than two outs, he’s our guy for that reason.”

Lugo Making Excuses For Poor Performance?

Beyond the video not showing any obvious signals from Dodgers runners to hitters, Padres pitching struggled for most of the series.

The Dodgers scored 34 runs in four games, getting to double digits twice. After Lugo was removed, reliever Scott Barlow gave up five runs, effectively ending the game.

Los Angeles has also scored more runs than anyone in the National League, behind only the Texas Rangers across MLB. Maybe the explanation for the rally and Betts' grand slam is simply that the Dodgers have a good offense.

And if Lugo's still not convinced, it's a pretty safe rule in baseball that if you throw 92mph fastballs right down the middle to one of the best hitters in the sport on a 3-0 count, don't be surprised to see it flying over the fence a few seconds later.