Christian Yelich Takes Harsh Shot at Yu Darvish After Cubs Star Insinuated Brewers' Sign-Stealing
By Jerry Trotta
Recent upsetting reports about the Astros electronically stealing signs during their 2017 World Series run have left pundits, fans, and players around the league pondering the potential of other teams to unfairly try to gain a competitive edge.
Well, that notion came to a head on Friday when Cubs hurler Yu Darvish essentially came out and accused Milwaukee of sign-stealing when he played them at Miller Park earlier in 2019.
Given the rumors about Brewers, I took a look at Yu's start in Milwaukee this year, where Brewers bullpen is - you guessed it - in left center. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin': in 1st AB, Yelich's eyes dart to his left as the sign goes down, & Darvish immediately steps off. ? pic.twitter.com/62NHvXRpV5
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 15, 2019
Christian Yelich was at the forefront of those alleged wrongdoings, and the Brewers superstar swiftly took to Twitter to chastise his division rival.
Be better than this. Nobody needs help facing you https://t.co/DlUDwjJn4X
— Christian Yelich (@ChristianYelich) November 15, 2019
It appears that Yelich is also proficient at savaging pitchers from behind a keyboard.
Darvish, for his part, really thought he'd covered himself, and wasn't directly accusing Yelich of anything. He seemed genuinely sad about this!
"But that's not mean Brewers stealing signs."
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) November 15, 2019
I said this right??
At this stage, there is just no way to know if Yelich gazing into left-center field moments before Darvish went into his windup indicates that he was receiving some sort of intel from the 'pen.
In 11 career at-bats against Darvish, Yelich is slashing .364/.500/.909 alongside two home runs and two RBI.
I'm not sure what is he trying to do.
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) November 15, 2019
But to be clear his eyes move first.
That's why I step off.
Make of that what you will, but it sure looks like Yelich "doesn't need help" hitting Darvish, and his home/road splits aren't nearly as drastic as some of the Astros superstars' marks.
Of course, Darvish isn't the first person to bring this discussion to the forefront; concurrent with The Athletic's Astros report, many players cited the Brew Crew as another egregious offender.
A miscellaneous bit of context for everything going down today - this is all happening against the backdrop of (1) suspicions about the Brewers going on for years, (2) the league knowing teams are doing it, & (3) *OTHER PLAYERS* suspecting the Brewers. https://t.co/QkWgrlOwIT
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 15, 2019
In 2019, Yelich hit .347/.451/.750 with 27 home runs, 59 RBI, 82 hits, and 52 runs scored at home. Away from Miller Park, the 2018 NL MVP slashed .312/.409/.597 with 17 home runs, 38 RBI, 79 hits, and 48 runs scored.
Again, make of that what you will. All we can do now is wait and see if MLB opens an investigation into the Brewers.