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

A Padres translator joked about a Yankees pitcher’s 10-game suspension for using a sticky substance ahead of New York’s crushing 5-1 loss to San Diego on Friday.

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

Footage shows the German’s left hand being inspected for a few seconds before Horie examines the Dominican’s right hand. Then Horie imitated an umpire’s ejection signal.

German’s hands were watched during an April 15 start against Minnesota, when the 30-year-old retired his first 16 batters in a row and allowed him to stay in the game. Officials asked German to wash resin off his hand, as he reportedly had some left on his little finger.

The pitcher was eventually suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball and fined for violating the sports ban on foreign substances on the mound.

Padres translator Shingo Horie joked about Domingo German’s ban on sticky substances on Friday

Shingo Horie (R) was Masahiro Tanaka’s interpreter with the Yankees from 2014 to 2020

The penalty was announced after German’s ejection in the fourth inning in Toronto on May 16, as what an umpire said was “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.”

“It was hard for my fingers to come off his palm,” crew chief James Hoye explained after the game.

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

Domingo German was eventually suspended for 10 games after resin 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 before signing a seven-year, $155 million 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, rewinded the clock by both greeting and making fun of German, an old friend of his.

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

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