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

A Padres translator has mocked a Yankees pitcher’s 10-game suspension for using a sticky substance, ahead of New York’s 5-1 crushing loss to 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 played the role of a referee performing a ‘sticky-stuff’ check routine.

Footage shows the German’s left hand being inspected for a few seconds before Horie examines the Dominican’s right hand. After that, Horie mimicked a referee’s ejection signal.

German’s hands came under scrutiny in an April 15 start against Minnesota, when the 30-year-old retired his first 16 batters and was allowed to stay in the game. Officials asked German to wash the rosin off his hand, as some remained on his little finger, according to reports.

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

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

Shingo Horie (R) served as Masahiro Tanaka’s translator on the Yankees from 2014-2020

The penalty was announced following German’s fourth-inning ejection in Toronto on May 16 for what a referee called “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.”

“My fingers struggled to break free from his palm,” team manager James Hoye explained after the match.

Horie, who is now the Padres’ coordinator for Japanese player services, according to the ball club’s website, was Tanaka’s translator when the Yankees signed the 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 continued playing 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 Japan’s professional baseball league this season, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Horie, who was still on the Yankees team when German signed with New York as a free agent in 2015, stepped back in time by saluting and mocking German, an old friend of his.

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

The German is expected to return to the mound for New York on Monday in an opener against the Seattle Mariners.