It was pointed out that Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto (26) could be at risk of being stolen from his signature.
The Orange County Register, a U.S. media outlet, said on the 4th, "I could see the grip in Yamamoto's first exhibition game of spring training. Yamamoto, who came to the Major League from Japan, has to deal with Major League hitters in the eyes."
Yamamoto, who recorded a total of 172 Japanese professional baseball games (897 innings) with 70 wins and 29 losses with a 1.82 922 strikeouts, recorded 16 wins and 6 losses with a 1.23 169 strikeouts in 23 games (164 innings) last season, becoming the first player in Japanese professional baseball history to win four pitchers (multiple wins, ERA, strikeouts, winning percentage) for three consecutive years, while winning the Sawamura Award and the Pacific League MVP for the third consecutive year. The Sawamura Award for the third consecutive year is the second time in history since Masaiichi Kaneda (1956-1958), and the third time in consecutive years since Ichiro Suzuki (1994-1996).
Yamamoto, who finished the Japanese Series runner-up, declared a posting after the end of the season and signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers in December last year. Yamamoto, who is expected to play as the Dodgers' first starter this season, started the exhibition game against Texas on the 29th of last month and pitched two innings of one hit, three strikeouts and no runs.
Yamamoto immediately demonstrated his worth by displaying an overwhelming pitch at the exhibition game, but his grip was exposed right before the pitch, raising concerns. The Orange County Register said, "SportsNet LA Broadcasting captured Yamamoto's glove-in-glove grip on Yamamoto's exhibition debut with a camera in the center field area. It is the surest way to predict what kind of pitch Yamamoto will throw." He pointed out that Yamamoto needs to be more careful to hide his pitch. "Major League teams can no longer use center field camera screens. But the second baseman can see Yamamoto's glove," he added.
The Major League once suffered a setback due to the controversy over the sign-stealing scandal. Attempts to steal signs from pitchers, catchers, and benches in baseball are considered natural, but in the case of Houston, which won the World Series in 2017, and Boston, which won the World Series in 2018, Mark Fryer's revelation that the team used the camera to analyze the signs of the opponent team and gave the signs to the players through the sound of hitting the trash can. Eventually, manager A.J. Hinch, general manager Jeff Renau, and manager Alex Cora left the team due to dismissal and contract termination.
After the sign-stealing scandal, MLB strictly prohibits stealing signs using electronic devices. Still, MLB teams' efforts to steal signatures from opposing teams have not gone away. The Orange County Register explained, "Since Houston's sign-stealing scandal, MLB has cracked down on baseball's gray area to some extent. However, big league teams are still aggressively and delicately trying to grasp information before pitching."
Dodgers pitching coach Fryer said, "Teams are focused because it's part of baseball. It's not just this once. Almost every team tries to steal signatures in some way. Whether it's players changing teams or coaches changing teams, this is spreading to different teams."
Coach Prior, who said Yamamoto is not familiar with the environment of the Major League, said, "As far as I understand, this doesn't seem to happen actively in Japanese professional baseball. So Yamamoto may not be familiar with this. I don't know exactly what Yamamoto will be like, but all 30 clubs are actively trying to steal signatures here."
Yamamoto responded to these criticisms, saying, "I'm not too worried about that right now. As the season approaches, I'm going to play Yagi with the coaches. The same goes for Japan. I'll make adjustments when the season starts." 메이저 토토사이트