Tag Archives: Jasson Dominguez

New York Yankees Call Up Jasson Domínguez Ahead of Series Opener Against Kansas City Royals

Posted on by
Reply

Jasson Domínguez has received his call up…

The New York Yankees called up the 21-year-old Dominican professional baseball outfielder, nicknamed El Marciano, ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Kansas City Royals, abruptly answering the question hovering over the club since rosters were expanded at the beginning of the month.

Jasson Domínguez,,Domínguez was in the Yankees’ starting lineup Monday, playing center field and batting sixth. Manager Aaron Boone said he’ll play “a lot” as the Yankees continue battling the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East title.

“This is a dream,” Domínguez said. “Since I started playing, I wanted to play in the big leagues and now I’m here again and it’s exciting and I’m happy [about] it.”

The Yankees’ decision to not promote the switch-hitter on September 1, when teams were first allowed to field 28-man rosters, was surprising to outsiders.

A significant swath of the fan base reacted with furor.

Domínguez was producing at the Triple-A level while Alex Verdugo, the Yankees’ everyday left fielder, was one of the worst everyday players in the majors since June. Why wait?

Boone gave two primary reasons: First, injuries — a late start to the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September and an oblique strain in June — disjointed Domínguez’s season and limited his game action.

Secondly, Domínguez would only get called up to play every day, and Yankees decision-makers decided they wanted to give Verdugo, a 28-year-old veteran with postseason experience, more time to rebound.

On Friday, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters in Chicago that Verdugo gave the team “the best chance to win.”

Three days later, after taking two of three games from the Cubs but scoring just six runs, the Yankees were back home, Domínguez had a locker in their clubhouse and Verdugo, an impending free agent, was effectively demoted to the bench. What changed?

“I don’t know about change other than, look, the roster is a living, breathing organism every day that’s always kind of evolving and you’re always paying attention,” Boone said. “And like I said on Sept. 1, when we didn’t initially recall Jasson, he’s in the conversation every single day. I think as much as anything, it’s just continuing to build the momentum he’s built here over the last few weeks.”

Domínguez’s return to the Bronx comes a year after he provided a dose of electricity as a September call-up for a club en route to a disappointing 82-win season without a playoff appearance. Domínguez homered in his debut and hit three more home runs over the next seven games. But his season was cut short after he was diagnosed with a torn UCL in his right elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery soon thereafter, which pushed his 2024 debut back to mid-May.

Domínguez reached Triple-A Wilkes/Barre in June, appearing in nine games before suffering an oblique strain that sidelined him for over a month. His only major league action this season before Monday was as the Yankees’ 27th man in the Little League Classic against the Detroit Tigers last month. He batted fifth and played left field, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts before he was sent back to the minors, where he pummeled pitching.

Domínguez batted .347 with four home runs and a .958 OPS in 18 games after the cameo. Overall, he slashed .314./376/.504 with 11 home runs in 58 games across three minor league levels this season, solidifying his place as a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball and a key part of the Yankees’ future. That future started Monday.

“I’ve been a huge fan ever since I met him,” Boone said. “Just love his makeup, his talent. And he’s earned this opportunity.”

The Yankees also activated infielder Jon Berti from the injured list, placed infielder DJ LeMahieu on the injured list with a right hip impingement, and designated left-handed reliever Anthony Misiewicz for assignment.

Berti, a 34-year-old speedster acquired the day before Opening Day, had been out since May with a left calf strain he reaggravated in July. Boone said LeMahieu has been dealing with hip discomfort for “a few weeks.” He added he isn’t sure if LeMahieu, a two-time batting champion having the worst season of his career, will play again in 2024.

Jasson Domínguez Becomes Youngest New York Yankees Player to Homer in MLB Debut

Posted on by
Reply

Jasson Domínguez is celebrating a smashing Major League Baseball debut…

The 20-year-old Dominican baseball player and New York Yankees player wowed everyone on Friday night, hitting a two-run homer off Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander in his first major league at-bat.

Jasson DominguezAt just 20 years, 206 days old, Domínguez became the youngest Yankees player to homer in his first game. He was the first Yankees player to go deep in his initial big league at-bat since Aaron Judge on Aug. 13, 2016.

Additionally, it was just the second time a player homered off a reigning Cy Young Award winner in his first at-bat, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The other was Marcus Thames — also for the Yankees — on June 10, 2002, off Randy Johnson.

After Domínguez swatted his opposite-field home run to the short porch in left off a three-time Cy Young Award winner twice his age, TV cameras panned to his family, who screamed and jumped around after watching the ball leave the yard for a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Four years after Yankees manager Aaron Boone saw him taking batting practice as a teenager, the highly touted prospect was a huge hit in his big league debut.

The switch-hitting outfielder and another promising youngster, catcher Austin Wells, were called up from the minors by the last-place Yankees when rosters expanded Friday.

“Everyone’s excited for them and excited to see them,” Boone said before the game. “Both [are] talented guys who earned this opportunity, and looking forward to watching them go spread their wings and continue to develop and hopefully see some good things.”

Domínguez is expected to be the team’s everyday center fielder after Harrison Bader was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds, and Boone said Wells will also play a lot over the last month of the season. They were both in the starting lineup Friday night, with Domínguez batting fifth and Wells seventh.

“When I heard the news, it was a special moment,” Domínguez said in Spanish through a translator. “Just to be here, very excited. Happy to be right here today, and it’s a special day.”

Wells is regarded more for his bat than his defense, but he’s hoping to show he can be a valuable contributor in both areas in the majors.

“I’m here to do that as well and play and help the team win,” he said. “So, that’s my goal and if I can do it in any way, I’ll do it any way.”

Expectations have been high for Domínguez since he received a $5.1 million bonus when he signed with the Yankees. His unique combination of strength and speed at such a young age earned him a catchy nickname: The Martian.

But he said he doesn’t feel any added pressure because of that.

“I haven’t really been paying too much attention to all that, all the comments and all the information about me,” he said. “I’m not much on social media. I’m not reading a lot of the different articles that are written. I just try to focus on what I can do and try to play my game and better myself so that I can fulfill whatever expectation there is being the best I can be.”

Domínguez was set to become the youngest player to appear in a game for the Yankees since 19-year-old pitcher José Rijo in July 1984 — and the youngest position player since 20-year-old outfielder Stan Javier in April 1984.

Boone is certainly aware of the expectations people have for Domínguez and believes he’ll live up to them.

“I think he’s going to be a really good player,” Boone said. “I really do. [He’s] not a finished product. And we’ll see how his journey goes. He’s obviously a very young man, super talented. I think when we look up in several years, we’re going to see a really good player in front of us and he gets to start to write that script, in the big leagues anyway, starting today.”

Domínguez joins the team after playing just nine games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. He hit .419 with two doubles and 10 RBIs there after batting .254 with 15 homers and 66 RBIs in 109 games for Double-A Somerset.

New York Yankees Preparing to Activate Top Prospect Jasson Dominguez

Posted on by
Reply

Jasson Dominguez is thisclose to his big league closeup…

The New York Yankees have informed the 20-year-old Dominican professional baseball outfielder, nicknamed El Marciano, that he’ll be activated on Friday, sources confirmed, in time for the team’s series against the Houston Astros.

Jasson DominguezThat would include an appearance on Sunday Night Baseball this weekend.

Dominguez, a top prospect, will be joined on the big league roster by 24-year-old catching prospect Austin Wells, ESPN sources have confirmed.

Dominguez is a switch-hitting centerfielder, someone the Yankees pursued as an amateur because of his unusual combination of power and speed.

The Yankees signed Dominguez for a $5.1 million bonus in 2019, and he has steadily moved through the organization’s farm system, generating mostly middling results against older competition.

But after a late-season promotion to Triple-A this summer, he thrived in an eight-game sample, hitting .444 with five walks and two strikeouts, clinching his ascent to the majors.

Overall, Dominguez has an .801 OPS in 117 games in Double-A and Triple-A combined, including 15 homers and 39 stolen bases (in 47 attempts).

The Yankees are in the midst of what could become their first losing season in more than 30 years, and in recent days, they have summoned some of their best prospects to the majors to play in the final weeks of the regular season.

Dominguez figures to get time in centerfield, following the Yankees’ decision to place veteran outfielder Harrison Bader on waivers; it’s expected that Bader will be claimed by a contending team on Thursday.

Wells was a first-round draft pick in 2020.

The two prospects will join a big league roster that already includes shortstop Anthony Volpe (22), infielder Oswald Peraza (23) and outfielder Everson Pereira (22).

Jasson Dominguez Makes His Professional Baseball Debut in Yankees’ Minors

Posted on by
Reply

Jasson Dominguez is officially a professional baseball player…

The 18-year-old baseball outfielder, signed by the New York Yankees in July 2019 for $5.1 million, went 0-for-2 with a walk on Monday in his professional debut for the Florida Complex League Yankees against the FCL East Tigers.

Jasson Dominguez

D0minguez hit leadoff and played center field for the rookie level team, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout and foul popup to third against Australian left-hander Jack O’Loughlin and walking against Dominican right-hander Wilmer Fenelon.

Dominguez’s signing bonus matched that of Oakland Athletics shortstop Robert Puason for the highest in the 2019-20 international amateur free-agent class.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone met Dominguez and saw him take batting practice two years ago when he went with bench coach Carlos Mendoza to visit Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and Miguel Andujar in the Dominican Republic.

“I’ve actually got to watch quite a bit of video of him in extended spring training, whether it be live at-bats off our pitchers or watching Sevy a few weeks ago when he was starting his return, Dominguez was one of the live hitters he’s facing,” Boone said.

“A special talent. And from all I can tell and all I hear is a really good kid. So look forward to him starting his career and charting his own path and hopefully the hype and the pressure doesn’t become too much of a factor or is something that also can fuel a player, too. But he’ll chart his own path and go at his pace and hopefully be impacting us at some point,” he said.