Diamondbacks’ Torey Lovullo apologizes to Cubs after sign-stealing hoopla

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo spoke on the phone with Chicago Cubs skipper Craig Counsell, apologizing after coaches in both dugouts yelled at each other over sign stealing at Chase Field on Monday night.

Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly was evidently tipping certain pitches, and Cubs third base coach Quintin Berry relayed the signs to his hitters.

Diamondbacks coaches, including bench coach Jeff Banister and pitching coach Brian Kaplan, went back-and-forth with Berry, as well as Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty. Choice words were used, the broadcast cameras caught clearly.

Kelly stared down Berry, and he later called it “bush league” for a third base coach to steal pitches and tell his players. But it is within the rules.

Lovullo received clarification of the rules set forth by Major League Baseball before this season before calling Counsell. MLB implemented new measures this year to protect against pitch stealing, confining base coaches to their coaching boxes until the pitch is thrown. From that vantage point, they have free reign to pick up advantages.

“I stand corrected and had a chance to call (Counsell), apologize to him and told him that we were wrong and they were doing everything right,” Lovullo said. “It’s a very intense time of the year, and a lot goes on. Two teams are trying to protect their turf … and I told them that I’d take care of our clubhouse, which I did.”

The next step for the Diamondbacks is working with Kelly to prevent him from giving another team the same tell that a changeup is coming, for example. Kelly admitted as much after the game, and Lovullo said he was not sure whether teams that previously faced Kelly were benefiting from tipping pitches. Kelly has allowed 12 runs over his previous two outings, so the Diamondbacks are going to have to go back and see if anything was amiss.

“We’ve never seen something on this level,” Lovullo said. “It was right in our face, the third base coach was right there in front of us, so we saw it. Have other teams seen it? Possibly, you go and look at other teams that are checking off of certain pitches, you scratch your head. It’s not the pitch that gets hit, because bad pitches should get hit. It’s the nasty pitch that gets taken that makes me raise a brow and say, ‘Why did a right-handed hitter spit on a right-on-right slider that’s nasty?'”

 

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“I’ve got to take a look at what I’m doing because clearly he had something,” Kelly said on Tuesday. “Obviously, if he has it, then other people will probably pick up on it.”

Lovullo said Kelly’s feeling that sign or pitch stealing should be handled by the players is the “old school mentality,” but the game has changed.

Teams cannot use technology to steal signs like the 2017 Houston Astros, but they can study with more angles than ever before to pick up on tells and relay that information when it is observed in a game.

“The cowboy in me will sit here and tell you that if it was 25 years ago, there would have been three fights before the night was over, but I don’t believe in that,” Lovullo said. “I’ve got my ass kicked in those fights and it’s no fun, so I don’t want to go out there and do that, especially if they’re following the rules. We’ve got to be better.”

The Diamondbacks and Cubs continue their series on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. MST.

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