MLB Investigating Braves Coach Eddie Pérez After Gesture During Argument With Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The MLB is investigating Atlanta Braves assistant coach Eddie Pérez after he gestured toward his head while in the midst of a squabble with New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. during the Yankees’ 12-9 victory on Saturday night at Truist Park.

The back-and-forth between Pérez and Chisholm occurred in the sixth inning and seemed to stem from the Yankees’ second baseman’s actions while he was standing on second base. Chisholm, within the rules of the game, appeared to be relaying signs to Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe while dancing off second base.

The Yankees had done something similar during a July 10 game against the Seattle Mariners.

Pérez took exception to Chisholm’s apparent sign-stealing. While standing on third base, Chisholm demonstratively exchanged words with Pérez. When he arrived back in the Yankees dugout after scoring New York’s sixth run of the game, a still-incensed Chisholm kept pointing at his head and gesturing back at the Braves dugout. Yankees announcers Michael Kay and Joe Girardi wondered whether Chisholm felt Pérez was threatening that Atlanta might throw at his head the next time he stepped to the plate.

The Braves coach denied threatening Chisholm.

“I was just saying, ‘Be smart,'” Pérez told MLB.com. “I like that guy. He’s one of my favorites. And he got mad about it. I don’t know why he got mad about it. So I was like, ‘Take it easy,’ and he started doing some [stuff].”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone, while speaking to reporters after Sunday’s game, made clear that if Pérez was indeed threatening Chisholm, such a move has no place in baseball.

“I hope it didn’t, because obviously there’s no place for that,” Boone told MLB.com. “And that’s certainly something that would not be O.K. So I hope he didn’t mean anything like that by it, because that would deserve some looking into.”