Yankees have to wonder what’s wrong with Domingo Germán?

After cruising to nine wins in just 12 appearances, Domingo Germán has gone two straight games without a win. In those consecutive outings, Germán has given up 10 earned runs in only 8.2 innings. That’s not great for the Yankees.

The Yankees were fortunate enough to pull out a 5-3 win in Domingo Germán’s last performance against the Boston Red Sox, but Germán’s eight strikeouts were not enough to limit the Yanks’ rivals.

Now 12 games into the 2019 season and Germán’s ERA has risen to 3.66 — one whole run above what it was before his last two starts.

Over these 12 appearances, Germán has posted an ERA above 4.00, five times. In those five poor performances, Germán has given up 20 ER in 25.2 innings pitches; compared to all other games in which he’s allowed just six earned runs in 37.1 innings.

Clearly, there is a vast difference which has resulted in a WHIP of 1.402 in those “bad games,” as compared to a 0.937 in the “good ones.”

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In those better performances, Germán’s changeup, which he’s thrown just over 18 percent of the time this season, tends to have more vertical and horizontal movement while presenting a slightly higher spin rate.

To add to this, his fastball tends to run a little more than in his bad outings; making his four-seam-fastball resemble a two-seamer. His spin rate, though, is lesser in his better performances.

Germán’s curveball has a bit more vertical drop when he’s cruising and even averages an extra three mph, compared to the curveball displayed in his five games with an ERA above 4.00.

The only pitch of Germán’s that doesn’t vary too much from game to game is his sinker, posting almost identical numbers across the board, regardless of success.

His balls and strikes thrown percentages, also do not vary between good and bad outings. He actually walks more batters per IP in his better performances — about .15 more per inning.

In starts with ERAs higher than 4.00, Germán gives up double the number of hits per IP than those with an ERA less than 4.00.

To further this inference, when giving up hits, Germán’s changeup has horizontal movement almost identical to that of his “bad game” changeup.

His curveball off hits, similar to his “bad game” curveball, has less vertical drop than usual while tending to be around three mph slower.

Similar to his curveball, his fastball also clocks in around three mph slower when giving up hits and resembles that of bad outings, as it has less of the two-seam movement. And yet, his sinker remains to be the steadiest of his pitches, never varying much from the norm.

The takeaway is that Germán’s pitches directly affect how he does each day on the mound.

When his fastball drifts like a two-seamer, his changeup floats away from left-handed batters like a Vulcan-change, and his curveball retains a higher velocity while not riding away, similarly to a slider. But without these key properties, Germán could be lit up.