The Blue Jays are aware that Seranthony Domínguez, one of their top relievers, appeared to be tipping his splitter against the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS on Sunday.
Video showed Yankees superstar Aaron Judge tapping his helmet on three straight splitters to conclude Ben Rice’s ninth-inning plate appearance against the right-hander. With Judge motioning from second base, Rice fouled the first splitter off before laying off the last two, which were balls, and drawing a walk.
“Yeah, looking at it,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Monday when asked about the footage. “You’ve got to do a good job of being clean, being tight, you know what I mean? It’s part of the game everywhere. Yeah, we’ll look at it and make any adjustments we need to make and just try to keep them off second.”
SNY’s Andy Martino first noticed that the Yankees appeared to have something on Domínguez, who didn’t allow any runs. While the tips didn’t matter much in the Blue Jays’ 13-7 win, which gave them a 2-0 lead in the ALDS, Domínguez will likely face the Yankees again before the series is over.
Video would suggest Andy is correct, as Aaron Judge can been seen tapping his helmet on 3 straight splitters from Seranthony Domínguez during Ben Rice’s at-bat yesterday, which ended in a walk.
This is less obvious than the flapping motions the #Yankees did all season, which I… https://t.co/NPU2Q9odzl pic.twitter.com/LuEJRx0WUS
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) October 6, 2025
Pitch-tipping is legal when done through natural means in real time, and teams can find tells via video when doing advance work. While clubs now benefit from technology, the art of pitch-tipping has always been a part of baseball, and it is incumbent upon pitchers and catchers to protect their grips, their locations and – prior to the invention of PitchCom – their signs.
The Yankees have earned a reputation for being excellent pitch-tippers, especially this season. They’ve also been “so obvious” about it — Cody Bellinger said so himself — typically flapping, waving and circling their arms prior to Judge’s more subtle signal on Sunday.
The Yankees’ previous lack of discretion informed opponents that they were tipping on multiple occasions this year, including the last time they played Toronto.
The Yankees were clearly tipping Max Scherzer’s changeup when the future Hall of Famer pitched at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 7, though Bellinger picked that up at first base before relaying to Judge at second. Judge then gestured like a plane about to take off during a Rice at-bat that resulted in a home run off Scherzer’s fastball.
Max Scherzer was tipping his changeup (see Aaron Judge) before that Ben Rice HR, which came on a fastball. #Yankees #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/tyGlPHyDhY
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) September 7, 2025
At the time, Schneider said “the whole [league] knows the Yankees are good when they got something.”
On Monday, Schneider circled back to that comment while making sure to note that the Yankees, who had the best regular season offense in baseball, have a quality lineup when they’re not tipping pitches, too.
“I meant that in a way that that’s not the only time they’re good,” the skipper said. “They’re really good. But if you have a tell, they’re really good at exposing it is what I meant to say. As are a lot of teams. So I think that you have to be aware of it. You have to be able to make some adjustments along the way.”
There’s been some public speculation that the Yankees gave away some of their pitches during the first two games of the ALDS, as Toronto set a record with 23 runs scored over the first two games.
While Luke Weaver acknowledged that the Yankees made him aware of some pitch-tipping concerns after he failed to record an out in Game 1, he said it was “doubtful” he was tipping in that particular contest. Instead, he attributed the day’s poor performance to the adjustments he’s made to counter his tipping “not lining up,” as well as his mind not being “completely clear” as a result of those tweaks.
One source in the Yankees organization, granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, told the Daily News that it’s “hard to know” if Toronto’s lineup benefitted from tipping in the first two games of the ALDS. They added that the Jays are “not traditionally” considered feared pitch-tippers, but that can shift as players change teams.
“They may be better than they used to be,” the source continued, adding it’s something the Bombers are also keeping an eye on after the Jays teed off at the Rogers Centre. “Definitely looking at it closely given we haven’t been able to get them out for two games.”
