On Wednesday night, the Dominican Domingo Germán threw a perfect game, which meant the fourth for a New York Yankees pitcher and the twenty-fourth in Major League history. But, who is German? And how did you become the third Latino pitcher to achieve a perfect game?
Domingo Germán was born in the Dominican Republic in 1992. At just 17 years old he was signed by the Miami Marlins for the Minor Leagues, there he excelled for four seasons and in 2014 he had his best year with the A branch of the Marlins. He leaving a mark of 9 wins and 3 losses in 25 starts, in addition to a 2.48 ERA.
This performance in the Minor Leagues earned him the call to the Future Star Game in July 2014. In December of that same year he was traded to the New York Yankees in a trade that also involved Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones, while Martín Prado and David Phelps were traded to the Marlins.
The following two seasons he kept playing in the New York affiliates in Triple A and Double A, until on June 11, 2017, the Dominican made his great debut in the Major Leagues against the Baltimore Orioles. That season he finished with 7 relief appearances, 14.1 innings pitched, 3.14 ERA and 18 strikeouts.
In the 2018 season, Germán opened a place in the New York team’s rotation, starting 14 games and appearing as a reliever in another 7 to leave an ERA of 5.57 in 85.2 episodes.
2019 was his best year yet, posting a mark of 18 wins and just 4 losses in 24 starts. A 4.03 ERA and 153 strikeouts earned him a steady spot among Bronx starters.
Suspension and return
At the beginning of 2020, the man from Quisqueyan was involved in controversy, as he was accused of gender violence for an alleged assault on his girlfriend. So the MLB sentenced him to an 81-game suspension. This prevented him from playing for the entire 2020 season, which was also short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021 he returned to the mound although without performing well. He closed the season with a 4.58 ERA and 4 wins and 5 losses in 18 starts with the New York team.
2022 posted the best ERA of his career thus far, with a 3.61 in 72.1 innings pitched spread over 14 starts and one relief.
This season he already made history with his perfect game, a feat that had not been seen in the Majors since 2012, when the Venezuelan Félix Hernández did the same with the Seattle Mariners uniform. With the departure this Wednesday, Germán reached 15 so far this season, 5 of them wins and another 5 losses, he also completed a 4.54 ERA with 78 strikeouts.
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