TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - On Domingo Germán’s first day back with the New York Yankees following a domestic violence suspension, he received a conversation with manager Aaron Boone over an Instagram post.
“Everything is over,” Germán wrote in Spanish on Wednesday.
Germán deleted his posts, then wrote: “I’m ready” in Spanish.
“Certainly we’re paying attention to that stuff,” Boone said Thursday. “When I first heard about it last night and saw it and it was brought to my attention, I was taken aback a little bit and immediately concerned, but do feel like maybe a little bit out of context, a little bit overblown.
“And I am comfortable that he is he’s doing fine and doing well and ready to compete. But it is something that we’ll continue to watch and as best we can try and make sure that he’s in a good place. But I had the conversation about trying to be as smart and choosy as we can being about some of the things we’re expressing publicly.”
Germán was 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 2019 when he was put on administrative leave that Sept. 19 while Major League Baseball investigated an alleged domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend, with whom he has at least one child. He missed the final nine games of the 2019 regular season and all nine of New York’s postseason games.
He was suspended for 81 games on Jan. 2 last year, a ban that had 63 games left. He missed the entire 2020 season and playoffs.
Yankees reliever Zack Britton would not say whether Germán needed to speak with teammates about what happened.
“That’s a tough question. I don’t think he owes anything to me,” Britton said. “I think it’s off-the-field stuff that he needs to take care of. I think sometimes you don’t get to control who your teammates are. I mean, that’s the situation. I don’t agree with what he did. I don’t think it has any place in the game or off the field, at all. … I think that’s something that he’s going to have to deal with on his own and make better choices going forward.”
NOTES: Luis Severino, expected back this summer following Tommy John surgery last Feb. 27, is throwing on flat ground from 120 feet. Boone played catch with him at Steinbrenner Field. Severino is scheduled to throw four times from 120 feet next week and start throwing off a mound in a couple weeks. … Because of the pandemic, Boone split his 44 pitchers and catchers into two groups for his first-day speech, which included details of health and safety protocols. “Trying to keep it consistent for two groups. The second time didn’t feel quite as good,” Boone said.
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