Was Framber Valdez retaliating for the Red Sox stealing his pitch grips? A new video analysis suggests exactly that.

During Tuesday night's game between the Tigers and Red Sox at Comerica Park, tensions boiled over when Valdez's pitch struck Trevor Story in the back, sparking a brief benches-clearing incident. While Valdez insisted the pitch was unintentional, the optics told a different story.

By the time Story stepped to the plate in the fourth inning, Valdez had already surrendered five consecutive singles and five runs in the third, followed by back-to-back home runs in the fourth. Frustration was mounting. Then came the first pitch to Story: a four-seam fastball—the first Valdez had thrown all season—directly aimed at the middle of Story's back.

But what led to that moment? Former Royals World Series champion Eric Hosmer, now part of Kansas City's broadcast team, broke down the tape and uncovered a potential motive. In the first inning, both Wilyer Abreu and Story reached second base and appeared to be doing more than just stealing bags.

Hosmer's analysis revealed that both players were stealing Valdez's pitch grips from second base and relaying the information to the batter. While peering in from second is perfectly legal, the key detail was how they signaled the pitch type. Abreu, for example, stood with his right foot on the third-base side of the bag—a tell that he had identified the grip. When he took his lead, he raised his right arm to indicate spin was coming.

Story, during his first at-bat, hit a hard ground ball off a curveball that was booted at third. After stealing second himself, he repeated the process: spied the grip, relayed a sinker to Ceddanne Rafaela, and watched him crush a three-run homer to right field.

Valdez has long struggled to control the running game, so stolen bases are nothing new. But the added layer of pitch-signal theft may have pushed the Astros lefty over the edge. Whether intentional or not, the message was clear: mess with a pitcher's grips, and you might just get a fastball in the back.