Blue Jays pitcher says Aaron Judge lied about side-eye home run

The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t played against the New York Yankees in nearly two weeks, but it’s clear one particular storyline hasn’t died out just yet.

In the May 15 game between the two AL East franchises, Yankees slugger and 2022 AL MVP winner Aaron Judge belted an eighth-inning home run off Jays reliever Jay Jackson, one of four dingers he’d blast that series in Toronto.

But in the at-bat leading up to the homer, Judge was caught by Sportsnet’s broadcast glancing towards his dugout, seemingly getting information about the types of pitches Jackson was throwing.

Aaron Judge hits a home run as the Blue Jays broadcasters wonder why he keeps glancing toward the dugout pic.twitter.com/ZrOY7grbYV

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 16, 2023

Asked about the controversy in an interview with Jomboy Media’s Chris Rose, Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt said the team knew Judge appeared to have found out he’d be getting a heavy diet of sliders from Jackson.

Chris Bassitt says the Yankees were relaying tips to Aaron Judge before his controversial home run in Toronto, although he did admit this is not technically illegal.

"Judge's response to it? I had no problem with it. Was it a lie? Yeah, it was a lie." pic.twitter.com/CUqh3CbFhe

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 29, 2023

“We knew it was going on,” Bassitt said. “I’ll say this about the whole situation. They knew we were tipping, and they were relaying tips. Is that illegal? No, it’s not illegal. Is it kind of in that gray area of like, alright, if the first base and third base coach are having to relay tips, is that kind of a gray area where it’s like should that be allowed for first and third-base coaches to do? You can argue that back and forth all you want.”

Judge’s explanation of what he was looking at was that he was “trying to see who was chirping in the dugout,” with his team up 6-0 at the time and manager Aaron Boone already having been tossed from the game.

“Judge’s response to it? I have no problem with it. Was it a lie? Yeah, it was a lie,” Bassitt quipped back.

Bassitt admitted that Judge wasn’t in an easy spot when asked if the Yankees could tell Jackson was tipping pitches.

“What do you want him to do, come out and say, ‘Hey, all their pitchers were tipping, and I’m gonna tell him how they’re tipping,'” Bassitt added. “I just think [Judge] kind of made up a story just to basically kind of say, like, I’m not going to tell him they’re tipping. Like why would [Judge] say that?”

The Blue Jays next face the Yankees on September 19 in New York, so be prepared to revisit this controversy in a few months.

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