It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
It’s… a Yankees baserunner moving his arms as if he’s about to soar!
Such has been the scene this season when the Bombers tip opponents’ pitches. The Yankees are rather skilled when it comes to picking up on pitchers’ tells, but relaying that information in a subtle manner is a different story, as the team has been caught in the perfectly legal act on multiple occasions.
“I have no idea,” a laughing Cody Bellinger told the Daily News when asked why the Yankees don’t bother to hide their pitch-tipping.
He later admitted to a small group of reporters that the Yankees are “so obvious” when they relay pitches, while “a lot of teams are discreet.”
Bellinger discussed this topic after he and Aaron Judge picked up on Toronto starter Max Scherzer’s changeup twice in the first inning of Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.
With Ben Rice facing a future Hall of Famer, Bellinger raised his arms as he led off first base to indicate Scherzer’s incoming offspeed offering. That was for Judge, whose lead off second base put him directly in Rice’s sightline.
Judge then extended his own arms in a plane-like motion, telling Rice to brace for a changeup.
“That is correct,” Bellinger said. “That is what was happening.”
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
Rice managed to lay off one changeup before belting another foul. But with the Yankees knowing when to expect the changeup from Scherzer – he’s tipped the pitch to other teams in recent starts – Rice fought his way back from an 0-2 count, fouled off four pitches, and concluded a 10-pitch at-bat with a 380-foot, three-run homer against a four-seam fastball.
The Yankees would not have secured their biggest win of the season – they are now two games behind Toronto in the American League East – without Rice’s home run. But it didn’t take long for reporters or the Blue Jays to realize he had been tipped off.
“The whole [league] knows the Yankees are good when they got something,” Toronto manager John Schneider said, per The Athletic. “I’m not the only one that’s going to say it. Maybe I’m the only one going to say it publicly, but we got to do a better job of making sure we’re not giving anything away. So, at the end of the day, you got to be tight.”
“It was pretty obvious,” added Jays first baseman Ty France, who made a mound visit during Rice’s at-bat, which led to Scherzer scrapping his changeup and therefore shrinking his arsenal. “You know, guys at first don’t typically flap their arms like that.”
Unless they play for the Yankees!
Flapping, waving, circling, raising and extending arms has been common practice for the Yankees when tipping pitches this season.
Back in July, the pinstripers went from being no-hit victims to victors after Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz repeatedly tipped his slider. Once again, reporters and the opposition saw the Yankees gesturing.
“They weren’t making it very discreet, I guess is the word,” Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh said that night.
The Yankees were able to read when Andres Munoz was throwing a slider in the ninth inning.
The runner on second would wave his hands to signify when a slider was coming.
Someone on the Mariners were tipping the pitch 👀 pic.twitter.com/WYeJRqJed5
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) July 11, 2025
There was also a game against the Braves in July that featured Jazz Chisholm Jr. signaling to Anthony Volpe from second base. That led to an on-field spat between Chisholm and Atlanta coach Eddie Pérez.
“I was just saying, ‘Be smart,’” Pérez said at the time, as Chisholm was being obvious enough that the Braves took exception.
Here’s some video from Anthony Volpe’s 6th inning at-bat. Would appear Jazz Chisholm Jr. was signaling with his hands and arms from second base. The #Yankees were recently caught tipping against the #Mariners. #Braves pic.twitter.com/Y9MzTw7BMP
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) July 20, 2025
There’s evidence the Yankees have tipped at other times this season, but the aforementioned examples are the most significant and detectable.
Bellinger said he isn’t exactly sure where the clues come from or who the mastermind behind the Yankees’ pitch-tipping operation is. “We just get the information,” he said before adding that all relevant parties are knowledgeable.
“We talk about it pregame, and you just go out there and look for it,” he said. “If you see it, then you obviously do what you can.
“I guess we’re good at it.”
Again, tipping pitches is not cheating when done through natural, non-video means. It has always been incumbent on pitchers and catchers to protect their grips, locations and – prior to the invention of PitchCom – signs. But by being so transparent about their tipping, the Yankees are telling on themselves, allowing their victims to make quick adjustments.
That might not matter against a one-inning reliever like Muñoz. But Scherzer quickly became reminded of his weakness as he worked through the rest of his 4.1-inning start on Sunday.
During Ben Rice’s home run at-bat, Cody Bellinger initiated the pitch tipping signals on Max Scherzer’s changeup from first base (look closely at the video below). He relayed them to Aaron Judge, who relayed them to Rice.
“That is correct,” Bellinger said. “That is what was… pic.twitter.com/A2m5vZymgJ
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) September 7, 2025
Asked how he would respond if he knew other teams were tipping his pitches, former Yankees reliever and current assistant pitching coach Preston Claiborne detailed how he would turn such a situation in his favor.
“I would purposely grip something like a two-seam, blatantly,” he told The News. “Show that pitch, open glove, to second base, let the runner relay it, and swap the grip and throw the pitch that was called by the catcher. Boom. Doesn’t happen again if the runner is looking in the glove.”
With that in mind, wouldn’t it be advantageous for the Yankees to keep their tips on the down-low? Or at least make them a little more complex?
“I hear ya,” Bellinger said.
“Sure,” added Austin Wells, also amused.
But Wells at least had a guess as to why the Yankees are so demonstrative when tipping pitches.
While a manager or base coach may go through an intricate sign to relay something like a bunt or a hit-and-run, batters are receiving those messages before they step into the box. Pitch-tipping signs, however, are typically relayed once a pitcher is set on the mound and about to throw the ball.
A more obvious sign has a higher chance of being noticed in such a small amount of time, Wells reasoned.
“You want to make sure the guy sees it,” the catcher told The News. “Because when you’re trying to hit 95 [mph] with movement and four other pitches, you’re really locked in on the pitcher. So I guess if you have [the tell] and [your hitter] doesn’t see it, then what’s the point of having it?
“We just want to make sure we know what we’re doing.”
Claiborne noted that the pitch clock, another modern advent, speeds things up for all sides. Hitters have to be ready sooner. Pitchers have less time to make adjustments.
“You have to be tactful how to fix or hide something when you’re trying to get an out or execute,” Claiborne continued.
At least he’s thinking about tact in these situations. But when it comes to Yankees hitters and tipping pitches, they don’t seem to mind attracting attention as they play a game within a game.
“Yeah, for sure,” Bellinger said of there being a benefit to being inconspicuous. “But no matter what the tell is or however you do it, I do think that the tell will be found.”
