Reporter: “The Astros players said they were not using the trash can system at that time [2017] because you couldn’t hear it. How were the Astros relaying sings during the postseason?”
Rob Manfred: “The garbage can signaling went on in the postseason. There was conflicting evidence on that point, but in an investigation you often have conflicting evidence, and it was my view that the more credible evidence was that they contented to use this scheme in the postseason.”
Reporter: “Can you tell us what this evidence was?”
Manfred: “Yea, it was statements from players.”
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, who hasn’t exactly had the most memorable week ever, confirmed that the Houston Astros did indeed use their infamous trash can system throughout the 2017 postseason, which culminated in the Astros winning their first ever World Series.
Former Astros pitcher turned whistleblower Mike Fiers detailed some of the cheating in The Athletic's initial groundbreaking report back in November, but many Astros personnel, including now the now fired and banned manager A.J. Hinch, arrogantly laughed off accusations that the Astros were cheating against the New York Yankees during the 2017 American League Championship Series that went the full game seven games.
Fiers, who pitched for the team from 2015-2017, said the team had a TV monitor around the home dugout at Minute Maid Park that had a clear and magnified view of the opponents’ catcher that was shot from a discrete center field camera.
Astros staff would then watch the rigged up monitor in the tunnel while Houston players were batting, to see where the opposing catcher was setting up and what fingers he was throwing down. They would then relay to the Astros batter up at the plate which pitch was likely coming next by literally banging on trash cans, whistling, or hitting the ceiling of the dugout to signal if it was an off-speed pitch or a fastball.
Former White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar told The Athletic that he heard loud bangs coming from the Astros’ dugout moments before he threw offspeed pitches, but would not hear the radiating sounds before he threw fastballs. A user on Twitter even uploaded a video of Farquhar facing former Astros catcher Evan Gattis that clearly shows loud banging noises coming from the Houston dugout before specific pitches.
Astros shortstop Carlos Correa finally admitted that the 'trash can' was sparingly used in certain moments during the 2017 playoffs, but was often abandoned because of factors such as the crowd noise and the incessant sign changes between the pitcher and the catcher, as rumors of the Astros stealing their signs had already been floating around.
Correa has still vehemently supported the idea the Astros deserved their 2017 World Series title.
Correa and teammate Jose Altuve's 2017 postseason splits were quite alarming given what we now know what was happening out on the field. Altuve hit .472 at home during the 2017 playoffs compared to just .143 on the road. Correa hit .371 at home compared to just .211 on the road.