Alex Cora expressed some concerns over the Orioles appearing to know what pitches were coming from Chris Sale. After it appeared he was saying they stole signs, he quickly clarified his remarks.
Following Monday’s loss to the Orioles, Cora remarked how much contact Baltimore made against Sale, and appeared to suggest they knew what pitch was coming. Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde called the comments “disrespectful,” leading to Cora’s clarification.
“It wasn’t about pointing the finger at them. If he took it that way, I’ll talk to him right now, but that’s not the case,” Cora said, according to the Associated Press. “I was the guy suspended for what happened in 2017, so I’m the last guy that can accuse somebody of doing something wrong if that’s what he thought I was saying.”
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Baseball Savant reported that on 42 swings against Sale on Monday, the Orioles whiffed only twice. That whiff percent of 4.8 percent was the lowest of any start in his career in any outing in which he threw at least 30 pitches, according to data from Baseball Savant. It also was the only outing in which he faced at least seven batters and did not record a single strikeout, per Stathead.
Needless to say, it was an unusual outing for Sale, who owns the career record for the highest K/9 of any pitcher with at least 1,000 innings pitched at 11.08. And Cora’s comments after the game reflected how unique it was for a team to swing and connect as much as Baltimore.
“Sliders down and in and they hit it. Fastballs up and away, they hit it. Changes — at one point there, there was no swing and misses. Tough pitches,” Cora said Monday, per the AP. “You’ve got to give credit to them, I guess.
“We’ve got to take a look at it and see if we find something … I’m not saying — got to give credit to them, but command was off today.”
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Those comments could certainly mean that Cora had concern over tipped pitches, but it’s also fair to read them as possibly suggesting sign stealing was taking place — even if PitchCom would make that extremely difficult. In response, Hyde made it clear that he felt the comments were aimed at his team.
“I’m not sure what he was getting at,” Hyde said, per the AP. “Honestly pretty disappointing in hearing that. I thought it was disrespectful to our hitters, to be honest with you. I thought we had a great game plan. I thought we had major league hitters take really good at-bats.”
As Cora suggested in his walk-back, he does have a bit of a history with sign stealing. He was suspended for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal, and was manager of the Red Sox when they were involved in their own 2018 cheating scandal — though MLB found he had no involvement in Boston’s sign stealing.
Cora was suspended for the entire 2020 campaign as punishment for his involvement in Houston’s sign stealing and agreed to part ways with the Red Sox during the season before he was re-signed by the team ahead of 2021.