Audio By Carbonatix
The Boston Red Sox have something on San Diego Padres pitcher Robert Suarez. They were able to capitalize on their intellect, which will undoubtedly raise concerns for their opponent.
It will be interesting to see if and/or how the star reliever changes his motion moving forward.
Before we continue any further down this path, I must note that the Red Sox’s actions do not violate Major League Baseball rules as far as I am aware. This should not become something bigger than it is.
The Red Sox still lost to the Padres.
The Padres called upon Suarez in the top of the ninth inning and needed just three outs to secure the victory at home. San Diego led Boston by one run, 4-3.
The Red Sox proceeded to score the tying run on a single, a stolen base and a ground rule double. They could not take the lead.
- Ceddanne Rafaela reached on an infield single to third
- Rafaela stole second base
- Connor Wong struck out looking
- Roman Anthony scored Rafaela from second on a ground rule double
- Alex Bregman fouled out
- Jarrn Duran intentionally walked
- Trevor Story struck out swinging
That was the end of the inning. The Padres won 5-4 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th.
Does Robert Suarez tip his pitches?
Score aside, one particular moment during Bregman’s at-bat created an ethical dilemma. Cameras on the San Diego broadcast captured a very interesting video.
A Red Sox player approached his coach in the dugout, who was holding a tablet. The tablet showed two different images of Robert Suarez’s setup when he is about to throw a fastball versus his setup for a changeup.
Cameras got an angle of a Red Sox coach showing images of the difference between Padres reliever Robert Suarez's setup when he's about to throw a fastball or a changeup pic.twitter.com/xWoA65Sy4X
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 10, 2025
Again, this is perfectly legal. Boston took advantage of a mound visit to do some scouting of their own. The coaching staff obviously found a “tell” in the relief pitcher’s setup and wanted their hitters to know when he was going to throw a heater versus an off-speed pitch.
Although the Red Sox did not do anything wrong by the rules, a large number of MLB fans were not happy to see this all go down. Certainly those who root for the Padres.
They called upon Major League Baseball to figure out a solution— whether that be a ban on tablets, a ban on meetings that involve a tablet, or something else. And honestly, I don’t hate either option.
On one hand, I am a firm believer that anything goes in love and war. On the other hand, I think it is completely fair to remove this kind of technological advantage from the games themselves.
To ban tablets all together would be unnecessary. But what about this:
If a pitcher tips his pitches, his opponent should be able to exploit his weakness if it is discovered prior to the game. I don’t love that a player can get instantaneous digital insight about a “tell” right in the middle of an at-bat. What if we said that a player is not allowed to look at a tablet once he enters into the on-deck circle?