Updated, 5:20 PM ET: New details have emerged regarding New York Yankees right-hander Domingo German being placed on administrative leave while under investigation for a domestic violence incident.
As per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, the incident being investigated “took place at [German’s] residence late Monday/early Tuesday” and “was not witnessed by an official of Major League Baseball”, as previously reported.
James Wagner of the New York Times also notes that “MLB learned of the incident third-hand”.
Adler adds that “the union had the right to appeal MLB’s decision […] but declined to do so”.
Original Post: According to the New York Yankees‘ public relations department, right-handed starter Domingo German has been “placed on administrative leave by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and placed on the Restricted List”.
Bob Klapisch of the New York Times reports that German, 27, “allegedly slapped” his partner during a dispute “late Monday night/Tuesday morning” and was “witnessed by an official from the Commissioner’s Office”.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to the team’s press corps ahead of Thursday night’s game in The Bronx (video via John Chandler of NBC4 New York).
“There’s no denying the importance of [German] to our team. So there is that element of ‘we must continue on’ and continue to press forward.”
“This is something that touches our society, unfortunately. Hopefully, that’s a forum for people or players to talk through it […] There’s no script to go off for this.”
Boone then expanded on his thoughts a bit further, via Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.
“Set baseball aside. This is a bigger issue, obviously, and something that when you hear the words ‘domestic violence’, it’s one of those things that stops you in your tracks.”
“I want to give [MLB] and the Players’ Association credit in doing their part several years ago in being ahead of this, putting disciplinary action in place to, hopefully, be a part of the solution to ‘what is that problem in our society?’.”
Considering the alarming increase in domestic violence incidents across professional sports in recent years, it’s a quarter-past the time for these leagues to start taking more drastic measures in these cases.
We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
