Padres All-Star, Manager Respond To Red Sox’s iPad Drama

An MLB spokesperson said on Sunday that the Boston Red Sox’s viral in-dugout iPad moment from Saturday’s game against the San Diego Padres was no big deal.

The Padres appear to agree.

The moment in question came late in Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Friars, when the broadcast caught a glimpse of an iPad in manager Alex Cora’s dugout showing side-by-side photos of San Diego closer Robert Suárez. The pictures were labeled “FB” and “CH,” seemingly indicating the pitcher’s different mechanics before throwing a fastball and changeup.

The spokesperson said on Sunday that teams are “able to add their own advanced scouting materials to the dugout iPads that are registered with us.”

“I mean, you could pan in our dugout and look at our dugout, and it’s the same thing,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said, according to a report by Dennis Lin of The Athletic. “You could take a picture of anything. … The fact of the matter is it’s taking place all the time. Now it’s just become more public.”

Shildt’s words echo a report by MassLive’s Sean McAdam last week that said three of the Red Sox’s recent opponents (Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies) believed that Boston detected their signals, but none of them accused the team of illegal activity.

Suarez made his second straight All-Star team this summer and leads MLB with 33 saves this season.

“Regardless, I think the coaches would have been able to let me know, ‘Hey, there’s something that they might be picking up,'” he said of the situation, through interpreter Jorge Merlos, per Lin’s report. “I think, regardless, even if it would have been after that game, they would have told me, ‘Hey, make that adjustment.’ But obviously, it was just that one moment specifically where they were able to pick that up on TV.”