The New York Yankees may have called upon JP Sears to be their 27th man during Thursday’s doubleheader, but he won’t be getting the start in either game. In fact, the Yankees decided that it was a good opportunity for Domingo German to get his first start of the season, having worked his way through the minor-league affiliates during rehab assignments the past few weeks.
Jordan Montgomery will start game 1 vs Houston. Domingo Germán game 2 #yankees #astros
— Meredith Marakovits (@M_Marakovits) July 21, 2022
Jordan Montgomery will start Game 1 against the Houston Astros, but German will undoubtedly have his hands full with one of the best teams in baseball. The Yankees will play at Minute Maid Park, a tough place to win games, especially with a dominant Houston pitching unit.
However, German has been solid during his rehab starts lately. In his last outing for Triple-A, German threw 4.0 innings of no-run baseball, he allowed one hit, and struck out four batters over 53 total pitches.
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The last time Domingo made an appearance for the Yankees was back in 2021. He pitched 98.1 innings, recording a 4.58 ERA, 8.97 strikeouts per nine, a 70.1% left on base rate, and 42.2% ground ball rate.
Clearly, the Yankees are looking to mitigate some fatigue in their starting rotation and German offers them a great supplement. However, it would’ve been preferred to get him going against a far weaker opponent. If he struggles against Houston, it will be a tough blow to his confidence, but you could also look at it vice versa.
German primarily features a curveball, 4-seam fastball, change-up, and sinker. Last season, his curve and change-up were his primary put-away pitchers. His curveball generated a 42% WHIFF rate and a 25.8% put-away rate. His change-up earned a 31.6% WHIFF rate and a 28.7% put-away rate.
Having a healthy German the rest of the way should help mitigate fatigue down the stretch, especially if general manager Brian Cashman doesn’t make any lucrative moves at the deadline.