Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán told reporters on Sunday that he intends to use less rosin when he returns to New York's rotation on Monday to face the Seattle Mariners. Germán was suspended earlier this month for 10 games after he violated Major League Baseball's policies on grip-enhancing substances. It was, notably, the second time this season the tackiness of his hand had become an issue. He was allowed to wash his hands and remain in an April start against the Minnesota Twins.
"You have to do something different because what I did before got me ejected from the game," Germán told the Associated Press through an interpreter. "Probably go back to previous years before where I used it way less."
Germán was ejected from his May 16 start against the Toronto Blue Jays after throwing three perfect innings. When he came out for the fourth, the umpiring crew examined his hands and declared them to be in violation of MLB's rules. Crew chief James Hoye told the media (MLB.com included) at the time that Germán's hand was the "stickiest I've ever felt," and said that it was "definitely not rosin."
For his part, Germán told the AP that he hasn't received insight from either the league office or the umpires about how much rosin is permissible. "As far as like a direct explanation on how much to use or not," he said, "I haven't gotten a better explanation from MLB or the umpires."
Germán, 30, started nine times this season before the suspension. He accumulated a 3.75 ERA (116 ERA+) and a 3.27 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 48 innings.
Germán is not the only New York pitcher to be suspended this year for violating the grip-enhancing substance policy. Mets ace Max Scherzer also had to sit out 10 games. MLB warned teams in the spring that they would be more strident in curbing pitchers' use of sticky stuff.
