In battle for spot in Yankees' rotation, Domingo German has been there, done that
Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German checking the runner on 1st base in the top of the 2nd inning while playing the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, March 1, 2023. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
TAMPA, Fla. — The battle for the Yankees’ fifth starter job may well come down to this:
Domingo German has more experience starting in the majors than Clarke Schmidt does.
The Yankees like both pitchers quite a bit, but tabbing German for the fifth slot would mean sliding Schmidt into the bullpen as a swingman, a role in which he generally performed well last year in multiple stints with the big-league club. German, meanwhile, has minimal experience in the bullpen.
German, who allowed one hit and a walk in three scoreless innings in Monday night’s 9-2 victory over the Pirates in his second start of what has been a strong spring training, posted a 3.61 ERA in 15 games last season, 14 of them starts. Schmidt, who also has impressed — especially with a cutter he’s incorporated into his repertoire, a pitch Gerrit Cole called “legit” on Monday — went 5-5 with a 3.12 ERA in 29 games last season, three of them starts.
German has appeared in 92 games in the big leagues, 70 of those starts. Schmidt has pitched in 34 games, starting five of them.
With the Yankees believing in each pitcher, it’s not a stretch to extrapolate that the path of least resistance — at least to start the season — would be to put German in the rotation.
“It all matters. Everything matters,” Aaron Boone said before the game of how much the organization will consider each player’s experience at the big-league level in choosing a winner in the competition. “It’s all part of how you shape your evaluations — where you think a guy is, what you think he’s capable of, what you think he is moving forward. Ultimately, we’re trying to make the best projection or guess of them moving forward, but certainly their history matters.”
Cole, asked to evaluate the attributes of the contenders Monday afternoon, began by referencing what has been German’s best season to date — 2019, when he went 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA (German is 26-21 with a 4.37 ERA in his career).
“Domingo knows how to win a ballgame, throws a hell of a lot of strikes. On his best days, his stuff can be really, really good,” Cole said. “Generally, Clarke has slightly better stuff, but that may also be because it’s a little more unique [with] a lot of movement and like a breaking ball-oriented approach. Maybe slightly more velocity, too, with the two-seamer and cutter, than Domingo. You like a little bit of the swing-and-miss [stuff] out of Clarke but you like the strike-throwing out of Domingo.”
Cole further explained his “knows how to win a ballgame” comment about German.
“He won 18 games for us. Gotta outlast the other guy a lot of times. You’ve got to attack the strike zone with your stuff that’s not as good [later in a game],” said Cole, who in talking about Schmidt was just as enthusiastic. “You have to know how to protect a lead a little bit. Not that Clarke’s not capable of those things, but Domingo’s obviously done it. It’s a fact.”
German, who struck out four Monday, threw 43 pitches, 27 for strikes. He took more encouragement from this outing than his first one last Wednesday against the Nationals, when he struck out three in 2 1⁄3 innings in which he allowed one run and one hit and hit a batter.
“I think much better overall,” German said through his interpreter. “But one of the things that I would pinpoint is the intensity, the aggressiveness, executing pitches and attacking hitters. It’s something I think I had a few years back and now I’m finding myself in a much better place. Definitely feel more intense executing pitches out there.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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