Max Scherzer used the PitchCom system for transmitting signs for the first time Wednesday night in his Subway Series debut against the Yankees, saying catcher Tomas Nido wanted him to try it.
He may use it again after pitching seven shutout innings against the Yankees, but he made one thing crystal clear: he doesn’t think PitchCom belongs in the game.
“It works. Does it help? Yes. But I also think it should be illegal,” Scherzer said after the Mets’ walk-off win over the Yankees. “I don’t think it should be in the game.”
The PitchCom system is supposed to help crack down on stealing signs after the Astros were found to have implemented an illegal sign-stealing scheme during their 2017 World Series run.
Scherzer, who pitched on his 38th birthday Wednesday, argues that traditional sign-stealing is a part of baseball.
“For me, I’ve always taken pride in having a complex system of signs and having that advantage over other pitchers,” Scherzer said. “The fact that we’re taking this out of the game and we’re just putting in technology, now everybody — you can’t steal signs on second, the pitcher can’t have an advantage of having a complex system. It’s part of baseball trying to crack someone’s signs. Does it have its desired intent that it cleans up the game a little bit? Yes, but I also feel like it takes away part of the game.”
It did appear that even with the PitchCom equipped, Nido was giving Scherzer hand signals throughout Wednesday’s game. Though Scherzer would like to see it gone, he didn’t rule out using it again.
“I’ll continue to think about it. I might,” he said.
