Yankees Prospect Profile: Domingo German

Background

The Yankees acquired Domingo German in a trade with the Marlins over the offseason that included Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones in exchange for Martin Prado and David Phelps. German was signed as a seventeen-year-old out of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic in 2009 and received a $40,000 signing bonus. He spent his first two seasons pitching in the Marlin's Dominican Summer League where he mostly worked as a reliever, posting a 2.89 ERA with 83 strikeouts through 81 innings pitched. In 2012 he was promoted to the Gulf Coast League and had a 1.61 ERA and 1.48 WHIP over 22.1 IP. It is a small sample size, but his BB/9 was up to 6.4 that year. German made the switch from reliever to starter in 2013, where he started the season back in the GCL. After just five starts, he had pitched well enough to move up to the Marlins' Short Season NY-Penn League affiliate. He finished the season with a 1.61 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 8.2 K/9 and a much improved BB/9 of 1.3.

2014 Results

German finally made his full season debut last year in the Marlin's Low-A affiliate. The right-hander spent the entire season in the rotation and for the most part he was able to carry over the success that he had in 2013. Through 123.1 IP, German put up a 2.48 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 0.4 HR/9. He also played in the Futures Game, where he notched two strikeouts and induced a groundout in one inning of work. Although he finished the season in Low-A, German was Rule-5 Draft eligible this offseason because he had been a pro for five full years, so the Marlin's added him to their 40-man roster, making him subsequently on the Yankees 40-man roster.

2015 Outlook

It's likely that German could start the season in the rotation in High-A Tampa. He is 22, so he will be one of the older players there, so a strong performance might see him move through the system quickly. With that being said, it's unrealistic to expect him to make it to the majors this season, despite being on the 40-man roster already. Scouts consider German's arm speed to be good, as his fastball sits in the low 90s, but has the potential to reach the mid-90s. He also throws a mid-80s changeup, as well as a slider, which is considered to be his third pitch as the sharpness and shape tend to vary. If he hopes to stay in the rotation, German will need to focus on building up his secondary pitches. He also needs to show that he can keep his walk rate down as he progresses through the system.