Blue Jays pitcher ends all Aaron Judge cheating debate, we hope

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson admitted that he was tipping pitches during Monday night’s game against Aaron Judge and the Yankees.

So, is the controversy over? Well, not exactly.

The Blue Jays thankfully did not plunk Judge on Tuesday night. Instead, the broadcast audibly complained about where the Yankees coaches were standing, which the team also asked MLB to look at. The coaching staff even made it a point for then umpires to step in.

As dumb and simplistic as that may be, things could have been much, much worse. Judge even hit an emphatic home run, thus putting an end to all debate. As the Yankees broadcast noted, his eyes were on the ball the entire time.

Goodbye, baseball. The man didn’t even blink. That’s the kind of focus one needs to hit 62 home runs in a season.

Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson admits Yankees, Aaron Judge didn’t cheat

“From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,” said Jackson, per The Athletic. “It was (less) my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it.”

As Ken Rosenthal notes, before Jackson threw a pitch he brought his glove up to his ear, which gave the Yankees assistant coaches and base-runners a clear indication of what pitch he was about to throw, depending on the grip.

“If they knew it was coming and he clipped me, (then) he clipped me,” Jackson said. “I’m glad he hit it as far as he did.”

This, we can only assume, is why the Jays complained about the positioning of the New York coaching staff on the first-base line. Either way, tipping pitches is not illegal, and the Yanks took advantage.