On Friday night while the Yankees were playing an intrasquad game, Domingo German posted a cryptic message on his Instagram that indicated he was walking away from baseball.
This was posted on Domingo Germán’s Instagram account – adapted and translated: “I’ve left baseball. Thanks everyone.” pic.twitter.com/xIENJCrzXD
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) July 18, 2020
Then 24-hours later, German backtracked on those comments in another Instagram post, seemingly written by his agent.
To my teammates, the Yankees organization, and our fans, I am very sorry for the unsettling post last night. This past year has been very tough for my family and myself, for which I take full responsibility. Not being with my teammates while they get ready for the season, knowing that I have let them down, has taken a toll on me and last night I let my emotions get the best of me. Baseball is my life and I promise I am not walking away. I am using this time to get stronger, become a better person and father, and I can only hope that I will get to join my teammates once again to make them proud. Thank you to everyone, especially the Yankees organization, for their support. Please forgive me for this mistake.
It was very unlikely that German would have walked away from baseball considering he is eligible to return four games into this year’s postseason and start the 2021 regular season on a normal schedule. I won’t lie, when I saw his post on Friday, I thought perhaps there was another shoe to drop — meaning he got in trouble again. But that does not seem like the case and I expect German to be in Yankees camp next spring battling for a rotation spot.
I think it is unlikely he pitches in October even though he can return for the playoffs. It would be a big risk for the Yankees to send him out to the mound in an important playoff game without him having pitched against big league competition all year.
