The Pirates will select the contract of right-hander Domingo German from Triple-A Indianapolis prior to tomorrow’s game with the Dodgers, according to reporter Mike Rodriguez (X link). The move comes a day before German’s opt-out date in his most recent minor league contract with Pittsburgh.
It was just over a year ago that German began treatment for alcohol abuse, following a reported incident of an intoxicated German entering the Yankees’ clubhouse and arguing with teammates. The Yankees placed German on the restricted list and outrighted him off the roster following the season, with German opting to become a free agent. The trip to the open market led to his first minor league deal with the Pirates, and after his exercised an opt-out clause in mid-July, he re-signed with the Bucs a few days later.
German’s results in Indianapolis have been mixed, as he has a 5.29 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, and 10.3% walk rate in 68 Triple-A innings. Some of the heavier damage did occur earlier in his Triple-A tenure, though it could be that the Pirates’ hand is being somewhat forced by the pending opt-out date. It isn’t clear if German will start tomorrow’s game against Los Angeles, or if the Pirates might view him as something of a piggyback starter or long man behind an opener.
Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, and Bailey Falter are lined up to start during the three-game series, so if German does get the start, he could push everyone back a day just to provide the regular rotation members with some extra rest. Pittsburgh doesn’t play on August 15 and then embarks on a string of 13 games in as many days, so a de facto six-man rotation could help keep everyone fresh for that stretch. Skenes’ workload has been a big subplot of his incredible rookie season and Jared Jones just started a rehab assignment and could be back from the IL in a couple of weeks, further shaking up the Pirates’ pitching plans as the club also tries to contend for a wild card berth.
German’s first appearance with the Pirates will mark his first Major League game with a team besides the Yankees, as the righty posted a 4.41 ERA over 522 1/3 innings with New York from 2017-23. German missed the 2019 postseason and the entire 2020 season due to an 81-game suspension for a violation of the MLB/MLBPA domestic violence policy, and his checkered resume also includes a 10-game suspension in 2023 for using foreign substances on the ball, as well as the aforementioned stint on the restricted list. In between those two absences last season, German entered the record books by throwing a perfect game against the A’s on June 28, 2023.
What a scumbag this guy is
Ugh, if they knew they needed a pitcher, then why didn’t they just skip Mike Burrows tonight? He’s already on the 40-man, so they wouldn’t even need to make a move for him.
you can question just about everything Cherington does and still walk away scratching your head
Everyone has pitching until they don’t.. The two rain delays killed their bullpen and wasted starts from Falter and Keller, who should be ready to go shortly as they only went 1-2 innings a piece. I hope German can provide something. At least he’s pitched in a high level in the majors. Gonzales needs to be out of the rotation.
Yeah they have keller starting tomorrow Skenes Saturday could have pitch Sunday bump falter or Monday bump Gonzalez
“ Gonzalez needs to be out of the rotation “
And Bednar needs to be pulled from the closer position
Bednar needs to stop throwing curveballs as the first pitch to EVERY batter he faces. He’s become totally predictable in his pitch sequencing because he’s always behind 1-0 when he misses with the breaking pitch, and he doesn’t seem to trust his other pitches to generate whiffs. So yeah, at a minimum Shelton should rotate between him, Chapman and maybe even Nicholas for closing games for a few weeks.
That being said, Bednar should have been pitching with a two-run lead yesterday. Cruz’s baserunning mistake really hurt them, and that errant throw doesn’t happen in the 9th because they would have still been leading 6-5 and probably win the game by that score.
Cruz is babied by Shelton when he makes stupid base running decisions.
After Cruz’ base running blunder yesterday Shelton high fived him in the dugout for driving in a run but never uttered a peep otherwise
A lot of people in Pittsburgh tearing Shelton to shreds but while I think he makes some mistakes, he’s been better and more instinctive with the bullpen this year. Even if you take Bednar out of the closer role, as he hasn’t been dominant all season, he still has to pitch somewhere, you can’t hide these guys forever. Nicholas and Stratton have looked much better recently but unsure how they will be in high leverage situations. Ideally, they should have let Beeks handle the 8th as he threw less than 10 pitches the inning before, and if he makes it through unscathed, use Chapman in the 9th, but every coach would go back to their closer after one blown save. ,
Bednar has blown more than one save and hasn’t had an era lower than 4 since the first week of the season
No Burrows because he has yet to “check all the boxes.” ♂️
They release Fleming, only to select German. Ugh
Release Honeywell and bring up Heller again.
Why?
I knew He and Chappy would end up doing time together in the same pen 🙂
Misery loves company
Who cares. Bednar will blow the lead.
Pirates need to do something. Because “this” just isn’t working. They added some potential offense at the deadline. The bullpen is tired & it shows
I remember half of the posters on here saying BDLC was this major upgrade and no one in their system should he off limits.
Yeah, how’s that working out? Just what they needed, ANOTHER hacker.
It’s amazing how many people are saying that a domestic abuser isn’t worthy of a throwing a baseball for a handful of games, but if they wanted to own a gun, you’d be all for it.
No law against owning a gun if you can get a permit , so what windmill are you tilting at now?
certainly not a windmill on the ocean, they kill whales
Dude, I don’t suggest this often, but you need to step away from the keyboard.. Maybe shut it down until after the election.
The Yankees had no problems with German beating up a woman, but after he got into a verbal dispute with some man, they got rid of him. Domestic violence is not a taboo, but getting into an argument or growing facial hair apparently is. Can anyone think of a classier organisation?
Gruß,
BSHH
Trevor Bauer is available.
His first and last start for the Pirates.
DOMINGO German gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. AROLDIS Chapman gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. ROBERTO Osuna gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. MARCELL Ozuna gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. JULIO Urias gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. ODUBEL Herrera gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. JOSE Reyes gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. JEURYS Familia gets a second chance but Trevor Bauer doesn’t. The MLB has a major problem and it starts right at the top
MLB hasn’t banned Bauer from pitching, the owners don’t want him on their teams
WHY is your KEYboard BROken
Bauer is that you
Bring on the Eurotrash