Right-hander Domingo German will not pitch for the New York Yankees again in 2019 following his placement on administrative leave under the joint MLB-MLBPA domestic violence policy, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney on Friday.
German had been placed on administrative leave Thursday following an incident that Major League Baseball learned about Tuesday morning, sources previously told ESPN's Jeff Passan. Despite the lack of a police report detailing the incident, MLB and the players' union agreed the allegations against German warranted placing him on leave amid an investigation, sources said.
The Associated Press reported that German, 27, is being investigated for an alleged domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend at home this week. The incident occurred Monday night into Tuesday at German's residence in Yonkers, New York, a person familiar with the situation told the AP. German and his girlfriend have at least one child together.
Under the joint domestic violence policy, a player can be put on administrative leave for up to seven days, barring a mutually agreed-upon extension between the league and union.
While the case is not settled administratively, sources told Olney that German will miss both the rest of the regular season and the postseason. The Yankees clinched the American League East with a victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
German, who is 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 143 innings, had been by far the Yankees' most reliable starter and had helped mitigate the struggles of veterans in the rotation.
Manager Aaron Boone recently said he expected German to be a big part of the team's postseason plans, but Boone said Thursday that the team needed to prepare for the postseason as if German wouldn't be available.
"This is something that, baseball aside, this is a bigger issue, obviously," Boone said. "When you hear the words 'domestic violence,' it's one of those things that stops you in your tracks. I give Major League Baseball and the players' association credit for doing their part in, several years ago, trying to be ahead of this and putting disciplinary action in place, hopefully being part of the solution to what is a problem in our society."
Information from ESPN's Jeff Passan and Marly Rivera and The Associated Press was used in this report.