The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t take long to address the growing speculation about pitch tipping in the 2025 ALDS against the New York Yankees. The video surfaced on Monday. Yankees sensation Aaron Judge was gesturing toward his helmet while standing on second base. It looked like an apparent signal to Ben Rice about three splitters from the Blue Jays’ $7 million reliever during the ninth inning of Sunday’s Game 2. Rice fouled one off while letting the other two go for balls and ultimately drew a walk.

Now, with the Blue Jays only one game away from eliminating the Yankees from the postseason, manager John Schneider brought a key concern to light. Ben Nicholson-Smith from SportsNet revealed that “Blue Jays manager John Schneider says yeah, the Blue Jays are looking at Seranthony Dominguez to be sure he’s not tipping pitches.”

Schneider and team are making a few adjustments to avoid tipping pitches.

“Yeah, looking at it. You’ve got to do a good job of being clean, being tight. It’s part of the game. We’ll look at it and make any adjustments we need to make and try to keep them off second,” Schneider revealed.

What’s even more eye-opening at this point is that it’s not the first time the Yankees have taken advantage of Blue Jays pitchers in that way.

On September 7, Ben Rice crushed a three-run homer off Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer while Aaron Judge stood on second base. It was Cody Bellinger that time who was on first base and relayed the pitch to Judge.

Meanwhile, Judge used a seamless arm gesture to let Rice know a changeup was coming. Both John Schneider and Scherzer admitted after the game that the veteran pitcher had been tipping his pitches.

The Jays are still very much in control of the ALDS series, powered by an offense that’s been scoring in bunches. If required, John Schneider can turn to Jeff Hoffman, Louis Varland, and Brendon Little to stabilize the bullpen and not let the Yankees ruin their comeback bid.

What to expect when the Blue Jays face the Yankees in the Bronx?

For Game 3, the Yankees are hosting the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, with Toronto having won each of the first two games at home. The Blue Jays chose Trey Yasavage for Game 2, but won’t be using him again for Game 3 since they believe Yankee Stadium’s environment could be too “hostile” for the 22-year-old.

So, the Blue Jays will send veteran Shane Bieber to start the game against the Yankees’ starter Carlos Rodon.

Across the first two games, the Blue Jays scored 23 runs. They scored in five of their first six innings on Sunday and posted a 12-0 lead before ultimately winning 13-7.

On the other hand, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had gone 3-5 with a grand slam, with Daulton Varsho going 4-5 with a couple of home runs. He also drove in four to pace the Jays’ attack.

Now, all things aside, the Yankees and especially Aaron Judge, were not exactly sure if their club struggled in the first two games because of playing at Rogers Centre. And now, coming to New York, the Blue Jays haven’t commented on how challenging it could be to play in the Bronx, but manager John Schneider is bracing for a hostile crowd.