Report: MLB To Allow Use of 'PitchCom' in Regular Season To Prevent Sign Stealing

Major League Baseball is allowing the use of PitchCom during the regular season, which is a newly tested device that pitchers and catchers can use to exchange signs. This is obviously a measure to prevent sign stealing, which has been a significant issue threatening the integrity of the game, especially over the past decade.

According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, MLB is expected to officially announce the permitted use of this technology on Tuesday.

Using PitchCom, catchers wear a pad on the wrist of their glove hand and can communicate the pitch and location for which they are calling to the pitcher with the press of a button. The pitcher then hears the signal through a small listening device. A maximum of three other teammates can also wear listening devices to aid in field positioning.

This technology has been tested throughout spring training. Several clubs—including the Texas Rangers—have tried using PitchCom in exhibition games and, according to ESPN, it has received many positive reviews. Taylor Hearn was one of the Rangers pitchers who used PitchCom in spring training and had nothing but good things to say about it. Hearn plans to use it during the regular season.

Teams have long been searching for ways to combat sign stealing, especially after the infamous Houston Astros scandal in 2017. For those who may have forgotten, Houston had a system with cameras set up in the outfield feeding a TV monitor behind the dugout to relay signs from the opposing catcher in real time. Those who took part in the scheme would audibly signal the upcoming pitch to the batter, usually by hitting the bat rack or a trash can.

The Astros wound up winning the World Series in 2017. Carlos Beltran, who was a player on the team that year, recently admitted his belief that the championship was tainted by the scandal.

Houston was later punished by MLB when this information became public, and led to the suspensions and firings of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was the Astros bench coach in 2017, was also suspended after he had managed Boston to a World Series title in 2018. He subsequently resigned and was later rehired by Boston prior to the 2021 season.

Maybe PitchCom is the answer to curb sign stealing. Maybe not. Time will tell.