There has been a lot of focus on teams and players stealing signs over the last few years. For some, it is a part of the game. For others, it is cheating, and should not be tolerated. San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski did his part to blur those lines on Wednesday night.
While Yastrzemski was on second base in the bottom of the second, he kept moving around behind pitcher Johan Oviedo, distracting his focus and leading to some heated words from the Cardinals’ pitcher.
Johan Oviedo appeared to tell Yaz to “shut the f--k up” 😳 pic.twitter.com/oklNWDbC3G
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 8, 2021
San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski playing mind games
As it turned out, the Giants outfielder had no clue about what pitches were coming. He was moving around simply because he felt that the Cardinals were being paranoid about the situation and decided to get into their heads.
Clearly, this strategy worked. Not only did he get Oviedo’s attention on the mound, leading to that confrontation, but the Cardinals’ pitcher was not exactly sharp in his outing. He allowed just two runs on three hits over his four innings, but also issued four walks and hit a batter. Considering his lack of command on the mound, he was fortunate to only issue those two runs.
This strategy may be used more often as well. With teams far more diligent about sign stealing in the wake of AstroGate, it is easier to convince them that their signs have been deciphered. If the right batter is at the plate and will not be distracted by the movement, other players may look to take a page from Yastrzemski’s book.
Likewise, it will be interesting to see if he continues such actions. While the Giants did not get many runs against Oviedo, they did knock him from the game early. If they can continue to do that going forward, and get into bullpens faster, it would be a major advantage.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was able to get into the St. Louis Cardinals’ heads last night. All he had to do was move around.