Ben Zobrist has laughed off accusations by Yasmani Grandal that he has been stealing signs from the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first two games of the NLCS.
"I think it's hilarious," Zobrist said. "No, I was not stealing signs. But I appreciate him thinking my baseball IQ is that high. ... I don't know what he was looking at or what he thought he saw. But really, from second base at Wrigley, it's very tough to even see the signs. It's so dark. All the lights are behind the hitter. ... But I think all catchers are probably a little paranoid about that."
Grandal specifically felt Zobrist was stealing signs from second base with Addison Russell at the plate in Game 1.
"All the sudden, Russell is not taking good swings at sliders, looking like he's looking for a fastball and in a certain location," Grandal told the Los Angeles Times. "Did we know Zobrist had the signs and was doing something for it? Yeah, we did. That's why we do it."
Dave Roberts wasn't fazed by the controversy.
"I think when you watch baseball games, every team's going to try to get any advantage they can, so that's kind of the gamesmanship part of the game," Roberts said.
"That's why catchers or guys on second base give multiple signs and change sequences. So if they are (stealing signs), it wouldn't be a surprise, and there's many clubs that we've played against that do the same thing. That's part of the game."
