Report: Pirates Interested in Starting Pitcher Domingo Germán

The Pittsburgh Pirates are still searching for rotation help with pitchers and catchers reporting on Wednesday, and they are reportedly in the mix to land a free agent.

According to Mike Rodriguez on Twitter/X, the Pirates have met with right-handed pitcher Domingo Germán. In addition to the Pirates, the Los Angeles Angeles are also interested.

Germán has spent his entire six-year career with the New York Yankees. Across 112 appearances/89 starts, the 31-year-old has gone 31-28 with a 4.41 ERA with 543 strikeouts in 522.1 innings pitched.

This past season, Germán went 5-7 with a 4.56 ERA across 20 appearances, with all but one coming as a starting pitcher. The right-hander totaled 108.2 innings and recorded 114 strikeouts agaisnt 34 walks. Opponents hit just .207 against him.

Germán etched his name into the history books on June 28 when he tossed a perfect game against the Oakland A’s. He became the first pitcher to do so since Félix Hernández did it while with the Seattle Mariners in Aug. 2012.

His perfect game was the height of an otherwise rocky season. Earlier in the year, Germán was suspended 10 games by the league for using a foreign substance while pitching.

Off the field, Germán has had his share of troubles. In August of this past season, he checked himself into impatient treatment for alcohol abuse and did not return to the field for the rest of the season.

In 2020, Germán was suspended 81 games for violating the league’s domestic violence policy from events stemming from an incident in 2019.

Earlier in the offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is a former teammate of Germán and was also suspended for a domestic violence incident earlier in his career.

Whether or not the Pirates land Germán remains to be seen. Whether it’s Germán or someone else, general manager Ben Cherington is hoping to fill out his rotation.

Over the weekend, right-handed pitcher Trevor Bauer said his representation reached out to the Pirates, but they were not interested.