Major League Baseball is looking into the possibility that Atlanta Braves coach Eddie Pérez called for New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. to be beaned during Saturday’s game between the two teams, the New York Post reports.
The incident stemmed from Chisholm’s apparent attempts to relay pitch signs to the hitter while he was on second base during the sixth inning of the eventual 12-9 Yankees win. Here’s a look at Chisholm’s actions:
The gestures by Chisholm are quite similar to what teammate Cody Bellinger was doing when Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz was tipping his pitches during a recent game against the Yankees. Relaying signs or tipping in such a manner is legal.
As for Pérez, he picked up on what Chisholm seemed to be doing, and he and the Yankee All-Star exchanged words when Chisholm was at third base. At one point, Pérez pointed to his head in what could be interpreted as a threat of retaliation:
For his part, Pérez after the game denied that the pointing gesture was any kind of threat. “I was just saying, ‘Be smart,'” Pérez said, via MLB.com. “I like that guy. He’s one of my favorites. And he got mad about it. I don’t know why he got mad about it. So I was like, ‘Take it easy,’ and he started doing some [stuff].”
“I hope it didn’t [have to do with throwing at his head], because obviously there’s no place for that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Sunday before the series finale at Truist Park. “That’s certainly something that would not be OK. I hope he didn’t mean anything like that by it, because that would deserve some looking into.”
Sunday’s rubber match, a 4-2 Yankees win, was played without incident. Chisholm went 2 for 4 with a double, and wasn’t pitched inside off the plate other than a backfoot slider early in the game at which he swung and missed.
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