Dominguez homers again in loss to Phillies
‘He could throw himself in the mix sooner rather than later’
The Yankees have gotten a close-up look at several of their top prospects this spring. While most of the attention has been drawn by Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza due to their participation in the shortstop competition, Jasson Dominguez has put on a show to remember.
The Bombers’ No. 2 prospect — according to MLB Pipeline — mashed his fourth homer of the spring during Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Phillies at George M Steinbrenner Field. Dominguez is red-hot during his first big league spring with the Bombers. The Dominican native is 8-for-19 (.421) with four homers, nine RBI and a 1.553 OPS.
The 20-year-old got the start in center field Saturday and with news of Harrison Bader being out with an oblique injury, Dominguez’s play has at least given the Bombers something to think about.
“Jasson’s had a great spring,” said manager Aaron Boone during Saturday’s game on the YES Network. “It’s our first time getting to be around him for a little bit of an extended period. I think it’s been great for him being around our core guys and guys like Aaron Judge and Stanton. To be around them on a daily basis has been I think a really valuable tool.
“We love where he’s at. Is he in that mix early on? That would be tough. But, you never know what could happen over the next few weeks.”
Dominguez played at three-different minor league levels in 2022 — which was his first full minor league season — and seemingly got better as he climbed up the latter. His slash line between Low-A, High-A and Double-A registered at .273/.376/.461 with 16 homers and 59 RBI in 120 games.
Once he reached Double-A Somerset, the outfielder played just five regular season games
before setting the world on fire during the postseason. “The Martian” hit .450/.560/.950 with three homers and 10 RBI in five games including a 3-4 performance with homers from both sides of the plate in the championship game.
“He had such a nice year last year coming off a 2021 where he struggled a little bit,” said Boone. “In every step of the way, as the competition got a little bit better, it seemed like he was continuing to get better.
“This is a 20-year-old kid who that hasn’t played a ton of baseball and basically got up to Double-A for the playoffs last year and performed really well. So he needs to play and keep on developing. But the track that he’s on, especially what we save last year and especially this spring, he could throw himself in the mix sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the shortstop update turned into a bit of a pillow fight on Saturday afternoon. Anthony Volpe played short for the Bombers in Tampa while the club sent Oswald Peraza and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla. in their 3-0 loss to the Pirates.
Volpe was 0-1 with a walk and a hit while Peraza — playing shortstop — went 0-for-3 and Kiner-Falefa — playing second base was 1-for-3 with a single.
Peraza, the presumed frontrunner entering the spring, has struggled at the dish, going 3-for-15 (.200) with just one extra-base hit.
The Yankees have been careful with their words when speaking about their shortstop candidates, however, a decision will have to be made sooner rather than later with under three weeks remaining before Opening Day.