New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán was suspended 10 games Wednesday by Major League Baseball and fined for violating the sport’s ban on foreign substances on the mound.
The penalty was announced after Germán was ejected in the fourth inning Tuesday night in Toronto for what an umpire called “the stickiest hand I’ve ever heard.”
“My fingers had a hard time getting out of his palm,” crew chief James Hoye explained after the game.
The punishment was imposed by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of field operations. Germán did not appeal, and his suspension began with Wednesday night’s game in Toronto.
Germán cannot be replaced in the squad while he is suspended. Barring a rainout, he will be eligible to return on May 28 against San Diego.
“He crossed the line that the umpires considered, and now we have to live with the consequences of that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday in Toronto. “No one player has to carry that burden. We’re going to share everything and we’re going to do it together.”
Yankees right-hander Luis Severino is expected to be activated from the disabled list Sunday to start in Germán’s place against the Cincinnati Reds.
Severino, a two-time All-Star, 29, has not pitched in New York this season because of a right side strain. He allowed two runs and six hits over 3 1/3 innings Tuesday in a rehab start with Double-A Somerset.
Germán had retired his first nine batters Tuesday night. He denied Hoye’s claim, saying he had nothing in his hand but rosin.
“It was definitely just the rosin bag,” Germán said through a translator. “It was sweat and the rosin bag. I don’t need any extra help catching the ball.”
Germán’s ejection was the fourth since Major League Baseball began its crackdown on banned stick aids two years ago, and the second this season.
Hoye’s crew examined the 30-year-old right-hander during an April 15 start against Minnesota, when Germán retired his first 16 batters, but allowed him to stay in that game. Hoye had asked Germán to wash the rosin off his hand and some had remained on the pitcher’s pinky.
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended for sticky stuff on April 20, and Seattle’s Hector Santiago and Arizona’s Caleb Smith were suspended in 2021.
Report from The Associated Press.
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