With the MLB off-season now in full-swing, the New York Yankees have yet to make any significant moves. They declined a couple options (Brett Gardner and JA Happ), and added a few players to their 40-man roster. However, the team is expected to make some big decisions this winter regarding their starting rotation.
In addition to Happ, incumbent starters Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton are free-agents. Both players careers in pinstripes are at risk, as the Yankees have some serious talent in-house. Jordan Montgomery, Deivi Garcia, and Clarke Schmidt are all young stars with high ceilings looking for a starting spot. They have Gerrit Cole locked up for eight more years, and will have Luis Severino off the IL towards the middle of the season.
The other pitcher in the picture is Domingo German. After seeing brief stints in 2017 and 2018, he had the opportunity to start games in 2019 and took full advantage of it. He pitched to an 18-4 record with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.147 WHIP, striking out 153 over 143 innings.
However, German’s impressive 2019 season came to a halt when a domestic abuse case against his wife surfaced, suspending him through the 2020 season.
A lot of teams would move on from a pitcher like that right away, but over a year later, he’s still a member of the Yankees. Does he deserve a second chance?
According to NorthJersey.com, German donated to domestic assault non-profits and completed a MLB associated training and evaluation since the incident. He accepts full responsibility for the incident and no charges resulted from the incident.
On the baseball side of things, German has been playing in the Dominican Republic winter league along with teammates Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar. He pitched four no-hit innings in his first start, while tossing five, one-run innings his second start.
It all seems like positive news for Domingo German. But the question is, do the Yankees trust him enough to bring him back?