Domingo German has made waves without officially being reinstated by the New York Yankees. He has become a distraction during his 81 game domestic violence suspension, posting cryptic social media posts about walking away from the game only to recant hours later. Zack Britton voiced the frustrations of the locker room by essentially stating that there are those on the Yankees who do not want German to be there at all.
It is understandable that the embattled pitcher would want to turn to someone in these times of trouble. As it turns out, German had a long conversation with Aroldis Chapman, although the subject matter was not being revealed.
New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German getting advice far too late
On the surface, it makes sense as to why German would turn to Chapman for advice. He has been in this situation before, serving a 30 game suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy in 2016. In his incident, Chapman had choked his girlfriend and fired eight shots from a handgun into the wall and window while he was locked into his garage.
The difference in the incidents is that Chapman had admitted fault while German has generally been silent aside from his postings. Chapman is also a respected veteran on the Yankees, one of the leaders of the bullpen. If anyone can help German, it is likely the Yankees’ closer.
At this point, it is too little, too late. If German was truly concerned about how he was perceived in the locker room, he would have done this earlier. Turning to Chapman now, after Britton was extremely vocal about his thoughts, is not enough.
German has a lot of work to do to fix his relationship with his teammates. The longer he allows this awkward situation to drag itself out, the harder it will be to rectify things. His relationship with some of the players on the Yankees may never be fully repaired, but he could have at least done damage control. Now, that time has passed, and any attempts will seem forced.
Domingo German has turned to Aroldis Chapman for help. If he wanted to fix his image on the New York Yankees, he should have done that earlier.