Did Zach Greinke really give away a pitch to the Oakland A’s?
The Houston Astros pitcher caused a stir on Thursday when he held up two fingers moments before throwing a 3-2 pitch that A’s outfielder Ramón Laureano deposited into the left field stands for a two-run home run in Game 4 of the ALDS.
Did Greinke really give away pitch?
That looks … bizarre. Was Greinke atoning for the sins of the Astros sign-stealing scandal by blatantly giving away pitches to a playoff opponent?
If that seems unlikely, it’s because it is.
While it’s fun for fans to think that a six-time All-Star pitcher for baseball’s most reviled franchise would suffer such a monumental lapse of judgment, the more likely explanation is much more mundane.
Houston Astros’ Zack Greinke pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Here’s what more likely really happened
Greinke wasn’t likely signaling what pitch was coming. It’s much more likely that he was communicating a pitch sequence with catcher Martin Maldonado.
So rather than signaling “two” for a curve ball, Greinke was more likely signaling a code to his catcher that only he and his Astros teammates know to indicate what series of pitches was coming. Plus, that looked like a slider, not a curveball.
For Laureano, it doesn’t appear to matter what Greinke is or isn’t signaling. In his very next at-bat on Thursday, he took Greinke deep for another home run to left field to cut Houston’s fifth-inning lead to 5-4.
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