Yankees P Domingo Germán says he’ll likely use less rosin

NEW YORK — Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán said Sunday he’ll likely use less rosin on his hands when he returns from a 10-game suspension for using a foreign substance on the mound.

Germán was suspended by Major League Baseball on May 17 and will return to the Yankees’ rotation for Monday’s game in Seattle.

“You have to do something different because what I did before got me kicked out of the game,” he said through an interpreter. “Probably go back to previous years where I used it a lot less.”

Germán was disciplined after being sent off in the fourth inning of New York’s 6-3 win at Toronto on May 16. He retired the first nine batters before his hands were checked by first base umpire DJ Reyburn as Germán headed to the mound for the fourth. inning.

After the match, team manager James Hoye said that Germán had “the stickiest hand I have ever felt”.

Hoye’s team also looked at Germán’s hands in an April 15 start against Minnesota, when the right-hander 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 it had gotten onto his little finger.

Germán said on Sunday that he did not get a direct explanation of the proper amount of rosin to use.

“As far as a direct explanation of how much to use or not, I haven’t gotten a better explanation from MLB or the umpires,” he said. “For me, I have to keep using it, figure out how much to use and keep a balance, but at the same time I have to keep getting ready to pitch and keep my routine between starts to get myself in the right shape for the next start and just keep using the rosin bag and try to keep executing pitches.”

Germán was the fourth pitcher suspended since MLB began cracking down on foreign substances in June 2021 and the second this season. New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer also served a 10-game suspension after being ejected April 19 in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

In 2021, Seattle’s Hector Santiago and Arizona’s Caleb Smith served sticky substance suspensions.

“He’s got to avoid that and it’s up to us to be more vigilant and check and make sure we’re well positioned,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Germán. “It should be fine, but I think that’s the only thing about it: what’s the line, there’s no definite line, you can’t have pantyhose [substances] on your hands. He must therefore take this into account. »

The German is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA in nine starts this season. He’s 28-24 with a 4.31 ERA in 101 career appearances (79 starts) since making his major league debut in 2017 with the Yankees.