The Arizona Diamondbacks lost 7-0 to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, and Merrill Kelly called out third base coach Quintin Berry for relaying signs to Cubs hitters.
The Diamondbacks and Cubs were seen chirping at each other on the broadcast, with the Arizona Diamondbacks directing their anger at Berry.
Diamondbacks and Cubs dugouts exchanging wordspic.twitter.com/Pcn2eMpv38
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"We just thought he was relaying signs," Kelly said after the game. "We thought he had something on my changeup. Especially to lefties, every time I was throwing a changeup we felt like he was relaying that."
There's nothing illegal about relaying signs, but it does fall into a grey area when it comes to acceptability.
"Stealing signs is as old as baseball,” Kelly said. “I think it’s a little (expletive) when it comes from a coach. I think if it’s a guy on second base and they see the grip in your glove or if the hitters can see something that you’re doing with your glove, I think that’s fair game. I think guys have been doing that since the beginning of baseball. I think it’s a little bush league when it comes from outside that.”
Kelly and the Diamondbacks were clearly upset that Berry was giving the Cubs hitters an advantage. However, Kelly knows that if there is something tipping his changeup, he needs to find it and adjust.
“I gotta take a look at what I’m doing cause clearly he had something,” Kelly said. “And obviously if he has it, then other people will probably pick up on it as well.”