Yankees: Domingo German suspended for the first 63 games of the 2020 season

Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German has been suspended 81 games by Major League Baseball over an alleged domestic violence incident. German missed the final 18 games of last season after being placed on administrative leave so he’ll miss the first 63 games of 2020 because the punishment is retroactive.

After reports surfaced early last September that German allegedly slapped his girlfriend a suspension for him was always inevitable. We just didn’t know for how long. There’s no place in the world for domestic violence so German was definitely deserving of this harsh punishment. Now the Yankees will be without a key rotation piece for a little more than the first two months of the regular season.

The 27-year-old will be allowed to participate in Spring Training with the Yanks, but once March 26th rolls around he’ll be separated from the big league club until the suspension is finished. The earliest date he can return to the Yankees is June 5th against the Rays. He’ll be given a 15-day window for minor league rehab appearances before he makes his season debut.

Last season was a career year for German, going 18-4 with an ERA of 4.03, a 1.15 WHIP and 153 K’s in 143 IP. Before he was placed on administrative leave he was the Yankees most consistent starter throughout the regular season. His absence to end the regular season and during October definitely hurt the Yanks, but this season it shouldn’t hurt them as much.

With Gerrit Cole now headlining the Yankees starting rotation and Jordan Montgomery back from injury losing German shouldn’t be that big of a blow to New York. J.A. Happ is also still on the roster but the expectation is the Yanks will trade him before the offseason comes to an end.

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Whether it’s Happ or Mongomery who rounds out the starting staff it still projects to be one of the best in the game. Two-time All-Star Luis Severino will be back after missing the majority of last season due to injury as will James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka who are both capable of pitching at an ace caliber level. The Yanks also have some promising prospects in Deivi Garcia and Mike King that could impact the rotation at some point during the season if needed.

As for German, he’s got a long road ahead of him before we see him back pitching in the Bronx. Hopefully, he has a good support system behind him because he has a lot of work to do to repair his image following his actions last September. Baseball aside he needs help and shouldn’t be allowed to return from his suspension by the Yankees until he proves that he’s a changed man.

If he can do that German can salvage his 2020 season and still provide a big boost to the Yankees pitching staff down the stretch and during the postseason.