Yankees' Domingo Germán Feels 'Ready' to Return From Injured List

Germán threw four scoreless innings with Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes/Barre on Saturday, the latest stop on his rehab assignment.

BOSTON — Domingo Germán could rejoin the Yankees before the All-Star break.

The right-hander, who has been on the 60-day injured list since spring training with right shoulder impingement syndrome, says he feels ready to return to the big-league club after his latest rehab outing.

Germán tossed four innings (53 total pitches) with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Saturday, allowing one hit and striking out four.

"Feel really good. It was a good start, feel good physically," Germán said Sunday afternoon through New York's interpreter. "I feel ready to compete."

In his MLB rehab appearance today, Domingo Germán posted four scoreless innings over 53 pitches.

4 IP // 1 H // 0 R // 0 BB // 4 K // 0.00 ERA pic.twitter.com/fOKXY25dYV

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) July 9, 2022

Germán added that he hasn't been told what his next steps will be, whether he'll continue his rehab assignment, join the Yankees' pitching staff or otherwise. Manager Aaron Boone later said that will a discussion the coaching staff is going to have over the next couple of days.

"That's not a decision we'll make for a couple more days at least because he's not going to be ready to pitch for us for another three or four days anyway," Boone said Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park. "We'll have those kind of internal conversations, see what makes the most sense, whether it's one more or just bring him up now. But certainly another encouraging step for him, pitching as well as he did yesterday."

Germán has been building up in the minors, increasing his pitch count so he can be stretched out if the Yankees want him to start. He has experience as a reliever as well, though, and could be a valuable piece in the 'pen, providing some length.

"I've always been open to any role that the team needs at the time," Germán explained. "I've been a starter, I've been in the bullpen. I've always had a really positive attitude towards pitching in any of those situations."

In 2021, Germán posted a 4.58 ERA over 22 games (making 18 starts). He's only a few seasons removed from his 18-win campaign in 2019—Germán set career highs with 27 appearances and 143 innings pitched that year.

After watching Germán's latest outing, Boone said the right-hander had solid command, mixing in his different pitches. The velocity was down for Germán, but Boone believed that he looked "polished," another encouraging step in his journey to a clean bill of health and a spot on the big-league roster.

Eventually, New York may want to insert another starter in the rotation. All-Star Nestor Cortes is about to eclipse his previous career high in innings, Luis Severino is in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery and Jameson Taillon has struggled mightily of late (allowing 27 earned runs in his last 35.2 innings pitched).

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