TAMPA, Fla. — A day after addressing his teammates, New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German publicly apologized for his actions that resulted in a suspension under baseball’s domestic violence policy.
“I want to take this opportunity before answering questions to sincerely apologize to the Steinbrenner family, my teammates, the front office and those around me who love me,” he said through an interpreter on a Zoom call. “I have made mistakes of which I am not proud of, and for that I want to apologize.
“I want to thank Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman for being so patient with me. They have always sincerely tried to help me when I was going through my worst moment.”
German hasn’t played since September 2019 after receiving an 81-game suspension from Major League Baseball. The 28-year-old was 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 2019 when he was put on administrative leave while MLB investigated alleged domestic violence involving his girlfriend, with whom he has at least one child.
The Yankees’ first full-squad workout was Tuesday.
The right-hander 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 and cost him the entire 2020 season and playoffs.
German made waves on his first day back with the Yankees on reporting day a week ago because of an Instagram post he wrote in Spanish that said “Everything is over.” He deleted his posts, then wrote “I’m ready” in Spanish.
German said Wednesday that he has gone to mandatory counseling. He would not discuss the specifics of the event that led to his suspension.
“I think it was something that benefited me,” he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.