Dominguez to begin rehab with decision looming

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The countdown to the Yankees’ decision on Jasson Dominguez is about to begin.

Dominguez is scheduled to start a rehab assignment on Tuesday or Wednesday with Single-A Tampa, manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. The 21-year-old outfielder, who has been sidelined since September following Tommy John surgery, will DH for the first two weeks of rehab games before playing in the field.

Once Dominguez starts his rehab assignment, it will officially begin a 20-day clock — assuming he remains healthy and has no setbacks — after which the Yankees will have to either add him to the active roster or option him to the minor leagues.

The Yankees’ starting outfield is currently locked in with Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, while DH Giancarlo Stanton has provided solid production through the first six weeks of the season. If they all stay healthy over the next month, it would not be surprising to see the Yankees send Dominguez to Triple-A once his rehab assignment is up.

“Hopefully it is a tough decision at that point, because good things are happening here,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday at Tropicana Field. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Dominguez crushed his September call-up last season, but it lasted only eight games before he landed on the IL with a UCL tear that required surgery after posting a .980 OPS with four home runs while starting all eight games in center field. Before his MLB debut, the top prospect had played just nine career games at Triple-A.

“I always feel like I’ve been one of the high guys on Jasson,” Boone said. “Going back to last spring, I’m like, this guy’s a big-leaguer. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to have a really good major league career. … Now, when does that happen? When does he really take off and pop and all that? That always is an unknown and remains to be seen. Everyone’s trajectory is different. But I am confident in the person and the talent.”

Plenty of things could happen before the Yankees have to make a call on Dominguez that could change their plans.

For now, they are just happy that the rehab process to this point has gone as well as could have been expected. Boone even said that Dominguez is “ready to go” defensively — he was expected to throw to bases for the first time on Saturday at the club’s player development complex — but the Yankees are easing him into action.

“It seems like there’s been very few hiccups along the way,” Boone said. “It’s been smooth, he hasn’t been rushed.”