MLB: Padres translator makes fun of Yankees pitcher Domingo German’s stick substance ban

A Padres translator’s made fun of a Yankees pitcher’s 10-game suspension for using a sticky substance, prior to New York’s crushing 5-1 loss against San Diego on Friday. 

Shingo Horie — who was Masahiro Tanaka’s translator on the Yankees but is now Yu Darvish’s interpreter on the Padres — greeted Domingo German with a handshake at Yankees Stadium, and after their hands met, Horie roleplayed an umpire performing a routine ‘sticky-stuff’ check. 

Footage shows German’s left hand undergoing inspection for a few seconds before Horie went on to examine the Dominican’s right hand. After that, Horie imitated an umpire’s ejection hand-signal. 

German’s hands were looked at during an April 15 start against Minnesota, when the 30-year-old retired his first 16 batters, and was allowed him to stay in the game. Officials asked German to wash rosin off his hand, as he had some remaining on his pinkie, according to reports.

The pitcher was eventually suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball and fined for violating the sport’s prohibition of foreign substances on the mound. 

Padres translator Shingo Horie made fun of Domingo German’s sticky substance ban on Friday

Shingo Horie (R) was Masahiro Tanaka’s translator on the Yankees from 2014 until 2020

The penalty was announced following German’s ejection in the fourth inning at Toronto on May 16, for what an umpire said was ‘the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.’

‘My fingers had a hard time coming off his palm,’ crew chief James Hoye explained after the game. 

Horie, who is now the Padres coordinator for Japanese player services, according to the ballclub’s website, was Tanaka’s translator when the Yankees signed the now-34-year-old pitcher in 2014. 

Domingo German was eventually suspended for 10 games after rosin was found on his hand

After seven seasons on the mound for New York, the Japanese returned home and went on to play for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – his previous team prior to signing a seven year, $155million contract with the Yankees. 

Tanaka is 2-3 with a 4.37 ERA after eight games in the Nippon Professional Baseball league this season, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Horie, who was still on the Yankees staff when German signed with New York as a free agent in 2015, rewound the clock by both greeting and poking fun at German, an old friend of his.   

Both men will have plenty of time to catch up over the weekend, as the Padres will play their three-game series against Yankees in New York.

German is expected to make his return on the mound for New York on Monday in a series opener against the Seattle Mariners.