Jasson Dominguez’s Productive Spring Leaves Strong Impression On The New York Yankees

Jasson Dominguez was never going to head north to Yankee Stadium to be on the opening day roster when the Yankees open the season in two weeks.

It did not matter how well Dominguez performed in spring training. It was just reality of it being unrealistic for a player who rarely played above Single-A making the jump to the majors.

The Yankees made it official late Thursday night when they announced Dominguez was being reassigned to the minor league side of spring training. It occurred nearly four weeks after spring training games began and before the move was announced, Dominguez made enough of an impression to make you think his debut with the Yankees might be closer than initially anticipated.

Even though spring training numbers get ignored, it is hard not to notice anyone hitting .455 (10-for-22) with four homers and nine RBIs in the short span of 11 games even if those at-bats are in spring training.

“He’s a promising looking player,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters recently. “I’ve been impressed with how ease he is, how much he seems to enjoy the game and enjoy his teammates. It looks to me like in the batter’s box the game is moving slow for him.”

Instead of heading to the Bronx, Double-A is the next stop and often it goes well, the progression is Triple-A and then the Yankees. If anything assuming those go well, Dominguez might get a look in September or even next season.

Dominguez’s first taste of big league camp was highlighted by a 107.6 mph homer against the Phillies last week that managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner certainly noticed.

And now it seems the Yankees may be getting closer to seeing some kind of return on the major league level of the $5.1 million signing bonus during the international signing period of 2019. Days after the Nets signed Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Yankees spent virtually all of their budget on the player tabbed the highest rated player from Latin America in a decade or the player MLB pipeline considered to be the top prospect from Latin America.

“That was how much we believed in him, even then,” Steinbrenner told reporters at his annual spring training press conference. “He’s another one that came on really strong last year. It’s exciting.”

For the Yankees it also is exciting because of how the progression is evolving after it was interrupted due to global circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled his debut professional season in 2020 but he played well enough in the minors to qualify for the Futures Game a month after his pro debut with Single-A Tampa. It was there he impressed scouts with some of his power and plate discipline, two traits that highlight Aaron Judge’s career.

Last year was when many more even started noticing, especially with a long homer in the Futures Game at Dodger Stadium. The homer came during a year when he began hitting more for average by batting .306 in 40 games with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades and then hit three homers in the postseason at Double-A.

“The track that he’s on, especially what we saw last year and what we’re seeing this spring, he could throw himself in the mix sooner rather than later,” Boone told reporters last week.

The first half of Yankee camp were dominated by the various injuries to Carlos Rodon and Harrison Bader, though those ailments are nowhere as drastic as the season-ending knee injury Mets’ closer Edwin Diaz sustained in the WBC on Wednesday that caused all sorts of discussion online and elsewhere.

This week has been a good week for prospects. Besides speaking glowingly about Dominguez, Steinbrenner seemingly offered his hope at seeing Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza at shortstop in two weeks.

While Volpe or Peraza may appear on the opening day roster or arrive shortly into the season opener, Dominguez is further away but inching closer in the rearview mirror of the Yankee radar.