Dave Roberts, Dodgers fire back at Padres pitcher’s ‘bush league’ comments

Padres starter Seth Lugo accused the Dodgers of knowing what pitches were coming on Monday. On Tuesday, they fired back at the right-hander.

After the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 13-7 on Monday, fueled by an eight-run fourth inning, Padres starter Seth Lugo said he believed that the Dodgers knew what pitches were coming.

“You try to stay locked in and focused on executing pitches, and some other stuff just slips your mind,” Lugo told reporters. “… I knew coming in what they were going to do, especially on second base.”

Specifically, Lugo believes that runners on second base were spying on how the right-hander was gripping the baseball and relaying to the hitter what pitches were coming. That is common around baseball — the Dodgers are known to maximize every competitive advantage — and what Lugo described is totally legal. But he thought what the Dodgers did was “bush league.”

Dodgers: Dave Roberts responds to Padres’ ‘bush league’ comments

Asked about it on Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “It’s surprising coming from him. It sounds like an excuse. I don’t think that was the case — and if it were, that’s gamesmanship. A couple guys were talking about it. Given the respect I have for him from the other side, it just makes it a little surprising.”

The Dodgers are no strangers to such accusations. During the National League Championship Series in 2018, the Milwaukee Brewers believed the Dodgers were stealing signs, as I reported at the time for The Athletic. One person inside the Brewers’ organization said at the time that a Dodgers coach could be seen running from the hallway into the dugout once a runner reached second base.

The Dodgers denied the allegations. Major League Baseball investigated the incident, but could not detect any wrongdoing.

Roberts is aware that the Dodgers are the target of such accusations, and believes it’s a sign of respect, saying, “I think it’s a sign of smart players. That’s the beginning of baseball, to be able to do that and when you have players that can relay signs and if you’re not giving the right signs or you’re showing your grips, that’s high baseball IQ players. That’s a compliment. But a lot of times it’s unfounded.”

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