Rocio Robles
Illegal sign stealing was, for a long time, one of the unsolved problems once technology arrived in the Major Leagues. The years continue to go by and technology continues to arrive and innovate in a sport as traditional as MLB. For better or worse, and despite its proponents and detractors, baseball is changing over the years, and this 2022 MLB season aims to continue this trend with one specific innovation: the arrival of new technology to avoid the sign-stealing scandals that have occurred in the past.
Some of the aspects of the new baseball that seemed unthinkable at the beginning of the century are the use of sabermetrics, the advent of replays for umpires and the use of electronic devices such as tablets and laptops in the dugouts in the middle of the game. Now, technology to facilitate communication between pitchers and catchers looks set to become the new bread and butter in the Major Leagues, and that’s what the use of a new technology to prevent sign stealing is all about.
These measures have come in response to the controversies that have arisen in recent years regarding MLB sign stealing. In 2017, the Houston Astros used techniques and systems for the purpose of informing hitters which pitches would be coming up by pitchers, and the same happened in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox. Perhaps both episodes would have had a better impact if not for the fact that both teams won the World Series in their respective seasons. This remains a low blow in the collective consciousness and has earned both teams the hatred of many people related to the sport for their “foul play”.
Because of this, MLB has been researching methods to end any chance of this happening again, and seems to have come up with a solution. MLB has informed teams that the use of “PitchCom” technology has been approved for the 2022 Major League Baseball campaign, although the use of this technology to prevent sign stealing will be optional. Thus, teams that wish to continue using conventional media will be free to do so.
What is the new technology to prevent sign stealing?
This new communication method to prevent sign stealing consists of a nine-button device at the catcher’s control, with which he can indicate the type of pitch and the zone of the pitch to the pitcher, who has access to this information through a receiver in his cap, while the catcher also has one in his helmet. Additionally, these devices can also be used by up to three outfielders with the intention of improving the fielding drills.
While adapting to these new technologies can be difficult, it seems that both players and managers have quickly become accustomed to the use of PitchCom, which began to be used in Spring Training. The results have been positive, and players such as Mike Zunino, Luis Severino and even an old guard pitcher like Zack Greinke have praised this new method, noting that it is “simple and very positive.”
In addition, this is expected to continue to speed up the pace of games – which has been a goal of the commissioner in recent years – as it will decrease the number of visits to the mound due to miscommunication and it will allow pitches with players on base go out faster by eliminating the possibility of a player communicating what pitch is coming up.
