Domingo Germán was perfect through three innings against the Twins, but things got weird after a routine hand check by the umpires. Although rosin is a legal substance, the ump felt Germán’s hand was unusually sticky and suspected he had used too much rosin. The issue? Germán wasn’t seen using the rosin bag on the mound, which made the substance on his hand suspicious. A quick review of the footage showed he barely touched the mound rosin during the first three innings. The ump told him to wash his hand and start fresh.
When Germán came back out, the ump noticed more stickiness—this time on his right pinky—and called it out again. Turns out Germán had cleaned his hand, then reapplied rosin in the dugout. The umpires huddled, consulted rules, and ultimately decided it wasn’t a foreign substance and didn’t affect his pitches enough to eject him. They let him stay in the game but gave him a firm warning: wash hands properly next time. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wasn’t having it. He argued that Germán didn’t fully comply with the warning and still got to pitch, which he found unacceptable.
Despite the controversy, Germán kept pitching and used the mound rosin more noticeably the rest of the game. Later checks showed no further issues. Still, it exposed a gray area in how umps interpret rosin use and opened debate on whether enforcement should be stricter. Baldelli made a valid point—if players don’t follow an umpire’s instructions clearly, there should be consequences.