During last night’s game, as Mitch Keller was dominating on the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it was unclear who would be following him up the next day.
The Pirates had not yet confirmed who would start for the club in a game that now will decide the winner of Pittsburgh’s series in Texas against the Rangers. Now, it appears as if we have an answer.
Hannah Mears, the Pirates’ sideline reporter for SportsNet Pittsburgh, has stated that Domingo Germán will take to the mound as Pittsburgh’s starter tomorrow, opposite likely Andrew Heaney for the Rangers.
It will be the first time that Germán has started a game in the major leagues since July 25th of last season, back when he was with the New York Yankees. In that game, Germán went 6.0 innings and was dinged for 7 hits, 6 earned runs, and 3 home runs in a losing effort against the New York Mets. He struck out 9 batters, but he struggled mightily throughout that game.
Germán would only pitch in one more game (a long-relief game on the 31st) before his demise with the Yankees, and up until a few weeks ago, that stood as his last major league work.
The righty had his contract selected by the Pirates back on August 8th, to much surprise. The 32-year old had posted a 6-4 record with a 5.29 ERA and 1.426 WHIP, with 12 home runs against, in 13 games and 68.0 innings for Pittsburgh’s Triple-A farm affiliate in Indianapolis.
Germán had actually briefly left Indianapolis, having an opt out clause in his minor league deal that allowed him to go to free agency. However, there were no takers for his services, and he wound up signing back with the Pirates on another minor league contract, and was promptly assigned right back to the Indians.
After re-signing with the team, Germán pitched 17.2 innings to a 5.09 ERA (10 earned runs against), and allowed 4 home runs. However, he did strike out 18 batters and picked up a pair of wins in that process.
Since arriving in Pittsburgh, Germán has been used in a variety of roles with the Pirates. He made his debut in relief of Mitch Keller, after Keller had been lit up against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Germán came on in the fifth inning on August 9th, picking up 4.0 innings of work. He was charged for 2 earned runs off of a homer that went in and out of Bryan Reynolds’ glove before leaving the ballpark.
He was deployed again on August 14th, against the San Diego Padres. In the dying innings of another blowout loss in California, Germán pitched the seventh and eighth inning for the Pirates. Both innings were scoreless, and Germán allowed only a single hit.
His last appearance was particularly discouraging, though.
Germán was selected to try and get the final three outs in Pittsburgh’s matchup against the Seattle Mariners on the 17th. Up 7-2, Germán opened the inning with a leadoff walk, before plunking the next two batters and loading the bases.
His complete lack of control forced the Pirates to yank him after facing the minimum, but he was saved by the solid work of David Bednar, who got out of a bases loaded jam and stranded them all.
Of the 117 total pitches Germán has thrown, only 56% of those will be strikes. He is going to need to step that up, especially if he is being asked to take on a starter’s capacity. He still has some pitch control issues, something that was especially evident in that outing against Seattle.
The veteran will need to put together strong performances, rather quickly, if he wants to keep a job with the Pirates. The club has numerous players, including starter Jared Jones and several relievers, currently on rehab assignments with Triple-A Indianapolis.
Germán would (and should) be on the chopping block when names like Jones, Carmen Mlodzinski, Nick Gonzales, and even Colin Holderman need to come back. Jones would slot in for Germán, and somebody like Ben Heller would be the next one to go as injured Pirates start to return to the big league club.
In any sense, it will be the first time we see Germán start a game for the Pirates. Fans have a right to be skeptical about how this goes, but it should be interesting to watch it play out.
(Featured photo from Getty Images)
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