TORONTO — Domingo German is subject to a 10-game suspension after umpires tossed the Yankees’ starter from Tuesday’s contest against the Blue Jays following a routine sticky substance check.
Such ejections come with an automatic suspension, and the Yankees cannot replace German on their roster while the right-hander is sidelined. German can appeal, and thus delay, the suspension, but it’s unclear if he will.
German expressed frustrations over a lack of clarity on how to prevent future ejections, and he insisted that he only used rosin against the Blue Jays on Tuesday. But crew chief James Hoye claimed the pitcher had “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.”
“It’s not rosin. It was definitely not rosin,” the umpire said, per a pool reporter. “Because I’ve felt hands with rosin. That wasn’t rosin. It was extremely sticky. And rosin usually is kind of like a little tackiness. This was sticky, as in my fingers had a hard time coming off his palm.”
The same umpiring crew warned German about using too much rosin during an April 15 start at Yankee Stadium, but he stayed in that game.
Regardless of what has been on German’s hand, the Yankees now find themselves a man short. For that, the 30-year-old felt bad.
“I gotta apologize to my teammates and my team,” German said. “I’m putting them in a tough position right now.
“It’s gonna be difficult, because I’m not going to be able to compete and help the team. So for sure, it’s not going to be easy, but at the same time, I understand that, as a professional, I gotta stay ready.”
German’s mistake actually cost the already-shorthanded Yankees two pitchers, as his ejection forced Ian Hamilton into Tuesday’s game unexpectedly. Hamilton, a breakout reliever, quickly departed with a groin injury that is expected to land him on the injured list.
Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Hamilton dealt with something minor on the Yankees’ last homestand that made him unavailable for a couple of games, but “he’s been fine with it.”
The Yankees can replace Hamilton in their bullpen, though replicating his production will be a different story. Then there’s the matter of filling German’s rotation spot, even though the Yankees can’t directly swap German out for another starter.
“Not ideal, but nothing’s been ideal about the start of the season,” Boone said Tuesday night. “We’ll just have to make do and figure it out.
The Yankees can add a reliever to their bullpen Wednesday if they officially put Hamilton on the IL. Their Triple-A options include Deivi Garcia, Matt Krook, Nick Ramirez, and Greg Weissert, and the team could mix more than one of them into the big league pen between now and Sunday if usage calls for multiple moves.
The Yankees can then replace a reliever with starter Luis Severino. He’s in line to pitch Sunday in Cincinnati, though such a decision hasn’t been officially announced yet. Severino has made two rehab starts after suffering a lat injury at the end of spring training.
Prior to German’s suspension, it was assumed that rookie Jhony Brito would be the odd man out in the rotation and optioned to Triple-A once Severino returned. But the right-handed Brito now has a chance to stick around, even if Severino comes back Sunday, after successfully teaming up with an opener, Jimmy Cordero, on Monday night.
But with Brito and Clarke Schmidt struggling overall in their first extended runs as big league starters, German will presumably rejoin the Yankees’ rotation once his suspension is over.
Once he returns, he’ll have to be far more careful about what he puts on his hands.
“Obviously it’s not okay,” Boone said following a private conversation with German Tuesday night. “We’re also talking about a very — what is the line? He’s been in the crosshairs a little bit, but it raised to a level that they didn’t feel was good, and ultimately, that’s Domingo’s responsibility to make sure we’re in a better position.
“The reality is, we should all have a very good idea what the line is, and apparently Domingo crossed it.”