“Josh Reddick’s guilty”; “Jose Altuve had the buzzer instead” - Fans react as ex-Astros outfielder revisits 2017 incident

The Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal remains one of the most widely discussed topics within the baseball community, with various fanbases still incriminating former and current Astros players from the 2017 and 2018 seasons for their misuse of technology.

On Thursday, during his appearance on Foul Territory TV, former Astros outfielder Josh Reddick was asked about his feelings towards New York Yankees fans who direct constant jabs at him on social media. Reddick completely washed his hands of any involvement in the sign-stealing while also ridding Jose Altuve and Tony Kemp of such claims.

“I'll tell you until the day I die, I did not use it,” Reddick said. “I was one of the guys that did not use the system. Me, [Jose] Altuve, and Tony Kemp are the three guys that didn't even think about using it. And that's not even coming from me as a direct source. first. Carlos Correa came out and said it the day after we met with the media.”

But fans weren't pleased as they still blamed Reddick for being a beneficiary while bringing up the rumor of Altuve using a buzzer attached to his uniform as a means to steal signs.

Here are a few reactions from X:

"You all benefited from it. You did nothing to stop it. You got a ring from it. It clearly eats at your soul. You’re guilty," a fan wrote.

"Yeah. Altuve had the buzzer instead," another fan said.

"Y’all were in the car during the bank robbery, helped spend the money and wanna say “it wasn’t me”. Clown behavior," a fan compared with an analogy.

"Doesn't matter he still benefited from the additional baserunning on in front of him and the extra stress pitches thrown by thr opposing pitcher," a fan stated.

"The dummies are inadvertently admitting they knew it was going on and let it happen," a fan claimed.

"All I hear is: I'll be stickin to my story til the day I die," a fan opined.

After MLB's investigation in 2020, no players were suspended; however, many Astros players came forward and admitted to the team's cheating. They were allowed to keep their 2017 World Series rings, but the team was fined an amount of $5 million, the maximum allowed in the league, while Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J. Hinch for the 2020 season.

Josh Reddick unwilling to give in to fans questioning his stats from 2017 season

During the 2017 season, Josh Reddick hit career highs with a .314 batting average and an .847 OPS. He was unable to reach those highs till his final MLB season in 2021. According to the 38-year-old, on the show, it had nothing to do with the sign stealing.

“It's not like I'm making stuff up; it's been proven,” Reddick said. “People are going to be biased, and I get it. I hit over .300 for the only time in my career. I had the highest OPS in my career. All of these numbers add up, but you know how many fastballs I got hitting between George Springer and Jose Altuve? A lot easier to hit when you get a lot of fastballs with the World Series MVP and league MVP hitting behind you.

“Josh Reddick did not cheat. Josh Reddick did not use it, so you guys can keep talking all the crap you want out there. It doesn't affect me one bit.”

After the league-wide investigation, the MLB was forced to introduce the electronic PitchComm device that aids communication between the pitcher and the catcher without the involvement of any hand gestures.

Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy