Yankees right-hander Domingo German, who’s serving the remainder of an 81-game suspension Major League Baseball handed him in January, may have been able to help the club during the postseason this fall. However, manager Aaron Boone said Monday that German won’t have enough time to ramp up for the playoffs, meaning he won’t pitch in 2020, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. The Yankees expect German to return for spring training next year.
German was a key part of the Yankees’ rotation last year, during which he notched a 4.03 ERA/4.72 FIP with 9.63 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 in 143 innings, but he hasn’t pitched in just over 12 months (Sept. 18, 2019) on account of a violation of Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. The 28-year-old German then seemed to hint at retirement in July before walking those comments back.
Aside from Gerrit Cole, the Yankees appear to lack shoo-ins for the 2021 rotation, so German could re-enter the unit – especially with Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ on the brink of free agency. But the Yankees are at least on track to welcome back Luis Severino, who missed all of this season because of Tommy John surgery, while Deivi Garcia and Jordan Montgomery are among those who could compete with German for spots.