New York Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has never been one to sugarcoat things.
The vocal righty, preparing for his first full season in Queens, took to Twitter on Monday morning when a video surfaced of the Astros using their sign-stealing techniques during a 2017 game in which Stroman was pitching.
Stroman performed admirably enough during the Aug. 6 outing at Minute Maid Park, allowing just two earned runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work. Though the Blues Jays fell 7-6.
But the video posted in November by Ian Hunter of Daily Hive Toronto confirmed that the Astros were using a clubhouse attendant to bang on a trash can to alert the batter of what pitch was coming.
The staffer was situated just inside the tunnel leading to the Astros’ dugout with a TV monitor that showed the images of the catcher’s signals from a center-field video camera.
ICYMI – This is the infamous garbage can banging noise from a Blue Jays and Astros game back in 2017. It's very clear if you listen with headphones, too. pic.twitter.com/FLevUbzKnj
— Ian Hunter (@BlueJayHunter) November 14, 2019
“S—t makes sense now,” Stroman wrote. “I remember wondering how these guys were laying off some of my nasty pitches. Relaying all my signs in live speed to the batter. Ruining the integrity of the game. These dudes were all about the camera and social media. Now, they’re all quiet!”
Pittsburgh Pirates starter Chris Archer, who spent extensive time in the American League with the Tampa Bay Rays, chimed in.
“Totally silent,” he wrote. “Where that’s ‘swag’ now? It was all a facade the whole time, the act, the game. All of it.”
The Astros have suffered drastic penalties instituted by Major League Baseball, including a $5 million fine and the surrendering of their first and second-round draft picks over the next two years.
Commissioner Rob Manfred also suspended manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for the season, but they were swiftly fired by team owner Jim Crane.
