SIGN-STEALING

Here's why Dodgers fans should be careful about throwing stones

Joshua Jordan
Jan 16, 2020, 5:21 pm
Composite photo by Brandon Strange

Earlier this week after the Astros were punished by MLB for sign-stealing, Dodgers fans were losing their minds about being cheated out of a World Series in 2017. A life-long Dodgers fan, Jose Lara, says he is speaking with an attorney about suing MLB for the amount of money he spent going to Game 7 of the World Series in 2017. It's hard to imagine he has any chance of winning his case, but that's not the point.

It seems nobody remembers that the Dodgers were accused of stealing signs back in May of 2019. The Mets and the Brewers have both accused the Dodgers. I'm going to stick to the accusations from the Brewers, but you can read about the Mets concerns with the Dodgers here. According to The Athletic's Robert Murray, the Brewers were suspicious the Dodgers were using cameras to steal signs with help from the video department. Sound familiar? "They use video people to get sequences," a Brewers source told The Athletic about the Dodgers in October of 2018.

And let's not forget the Red Sox claiming they caught Dodgers 3rd baseman Manny Machado relaying signs from 2nd base in the 2018 World Series. It's clear from MLB's investigation of the Astros that Alex Cora would definitely know what to look for when it comes to stealing signs.

The point is, there is a ton of heat on the Astros right now and deservedly so, but it seems like MLB is just starting to figure out that a lot of teams have been doing this as recently as last year. They need to look into all these reports, the teams involved, and make sure they punish everyone equally. You can't just punish the first team that got caught and let everyone else get away with it. If you're truly going to clean up baseball, you have to hold everyone accountable.

Hopefully a team like the Dodgers gets exposed sooner than later, so the Astros are finally out of the spotlight.

Let's go MLB, get to it!

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How 2 Houston Astros clutch performers surging late could make all the difference

With the end of the regular season in sight, the Houston Astros host the Kansas City Royals on Friday night, coming off a huge walk-off 2-1 win against the Orioles.

Two players from the finale against Baltimore really stood out for the 'Stros. Jeremy Pena, who had a clutch double late in the game, and Cristian Javier.

Javier struck out 11 batters over 5 innings surrendering only one run, which was exactly what the Astros needed in possibly the most important game of the regular season.

Both Pena and Javier were critical pieces to the Astros title in 2022, and it looks like they're rounding into form at just the right time.

Javier's struggles have caused many to question who would be the team's third starter in the postseason, behind Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander. Let's put this to bed right now, it's Javier.

This should be everything you need to know. Let's start with Hunter Brown. Brown has given up 5 earned runs or more in 4 of his last 7 starts.

How about JP France? France has surrendered 5 or more earned runs in 3 of his last 5 games.

However, Cristian Javier hasn't allowed 5 or more runs in a start since July 3. Javier may only give you 5 innings, but that's actually pretty common for starters in the playoffs. Teams typically remove their starters before the third time through the order.

Prime Time Pena

While the power hasn't been there for Pena this year, he is swinging the bat much better of late. Over his last 30 games, he's hitting .325 while slugging .453. Pena may only have 10 bombs on the year, but he's getting on base and hitting plenty of doubles.

If these two can contribute at a similar level to last postseason, the sky is the limit for the 2023 Astros.

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