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During Sunday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, LA Dodgers third baseman Kike Hernandez was wearing a PitchCom device. In a game that was nationally broadcast on ESPN, fans heard what Gavin Stone was about to throw through that device.
In the third inning, the word "changeup" can be heard clearly through Hernandez's PitchCom device.
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This irked fans, who then called out ESPN for the mishap in the game and shared their reactions on an X post by Dodgers Nation.
"STOP THE INTERVIEWS!"
"I hate the entire concept of talking to players during live play. I can't stand the Sunday night broadcast team in their attempts to be comedians. In the shadow of Vin Scully's broadcast booth, do better ESPN."
"ESPN is garbage 🗑."
More criticism followed:
According to The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya, the device was placed on the right side of Hernandez's cap and the mic was at the center of his jersey. The volume appears to have been too high, thus the audible pitch tip-offs.
Dodgers' Gavin Stone giving up two base hits adds to the conversation
The other question it begs is whether the giveaway of the pitches had any effect on the game. Well, without being hyperbolic, Stone did give up two hits to start the same inning when Hernandez was mic'd up.
Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn singled against Dodgers starter Gavin Stone. Brendan Donovan popped out the following at-bat. However, Paul Goldschmidt singled for Scott to reach home plate as the Cardinals' first run of the game.
Following that, Stone struck out the next hitter, Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado was flung out to end the inning.
Moreover, this also creates doubt in the minds of viewers if something similar has happened before. For the time being, the league's representatives will surely look into it to avoid such future mishaps.
On the other hand, PitchCom has been consistently used in games since 2022, following the approval of the MLB Players Association. Its use has been consistent throughout the games and there has never been anything reported of such a mishap. The only reason suggested as of now is that the volume may have been too high.
