Former MLB catcher Erik Kratz made it perfectly clear the Houston Astros were not the only team stealing signs in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Kratz, who retired from MLB after last season at age 40, is relatively unfiltered at this point. The former Phillies, Pirates, Blue Jays, Royals, Astros, Yankees, Brewers, Giants and Rays (that’s a mouthful) catcher spoke with YES’ ‘Curtain Call’ podcast earlier this week about the continued presence of sign-stealing in baseball.
He specifically called out one National League team — the Colorado Rockies — for stealing signs in the 2018 postseason.
Astros weren’t only MLB team stealing signs
If Kratz is to be trusted — and he doesn’t have much reason to lie at this juncture — then the Rockies have some explaining to do.
“And I can also tell you because I don’t care, I don’t really know anybody over there, the Colorado Rockies were doing the exact same thing in 2018, and we caught them, and we played them in the playoffs. Know how many runs they scored in a three-game playoff series in 2018? Not many people watched the NLDS. They scored two runs in the ninth inning of Game 2. They used to take a Theragun and bang it on their metal bench. And they were doing the exact same thing, from the TV. So, there you go. If you think no one else was doing it, you are wrong. The difference is, the Astros may have taken it a little too far. Maybe a little bit too far. Maybe continued to do it. Or maybe it’s just the fact that they won the World Series and everybody’s pissed about that.”
For what it’s worth, the Brewers swept the Rockies in that series.
Per Kratz, the Rockies used a similar format as the Astros, with loud banging and video monitors. Houston, per the catcher, just went a little too far with matters.