When the 2020 season was scheduled to start, New York Yankees fans knew not to expect starter Domingo German for at least half of the season. He still has 81 games to serve as part of his suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy.
That was BEFORE the Coronavirus rocked the entire planet.
Now we’re in May, and it’s making less and less sense for German to pitch at all this year should a season starts at all.
He Still Has to Serve 81 Games
The rulings against AJ Hinch, Jeff Lunow, and Alex Cora from Commissioner Manfred’s office all clearly outline that those three men can get jobs in baseball again AFTER the 2020 season. Should the 2020 season get canceled this year, that would mean they can get work again as early as November when the offseason would officially begin.
German, however, still has a defined number of games to serve in suspension.
So let’s all be optimists and assume that a baseball season will happen in one way or another this season. We’re on May 4th right now. The Yankees would have a scheduled off day and have already played 35 games. Baseball is determined to have some shortened Spring Training to get teams ready before starting a season.
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: 2020 is going to be a shortened season. The league isn’t going to play 162 games, then its regular postseason. They’d stand no shot, especially with reports from the CDC that a new wave of COVID-19 will come by the fall. This means that if play were to resume tomorrow for the New York Yankees, they’d have 127 games left on the schedule.
So, if the earliest the shortened Spring Training were to happen is Memorial Day weekend, to have a first game of the 2020 season on June 1st, that’s 25 fewer games, leaving only a 102 game season. With the threat of no minor league season, there’d be little to no chance for German to have warm-up games to get himself ready to pitch this season at all. And what would be the point? 81 out of 102 games leaves just 21 games left in the season.
And with no official start date for this modified Spring Training, it’s impossible to estimate just how many games will be played this season at all. For the sake of the season, just have German sit out to come back strong for Spring Training 2021. You’re not going to expect him to make his first outing of the year during a playoff game, Happ’s contract is up after this year, Tanaka’s contract is up after this year, just bench him all season and see about next year.