Here’s what to know about Domínguez’s debut
HOUSTON — Jasson Domínguez‘s aggressive burst out of the batter’s field caught Aaron Boone’s consideration, prompting the Yankees supervisor to perk up at his dugout perch. It was the ninth inning of a Grapefruit League sport — March 16 towards the Pirates, to be actual — and the super-prospect often known as “The Martian” was spicing up a sleepy affair by legging out a hustle double.
“You really saw him accelerate and see him run the way he is able to when he really gets to top speed,” Boone recalled this week. “For being built the way he is, kind of stocky and thick, that jumped out at me – like, ‘Whoa, there’s another gear there.’”
One of essentially the most celebrated worldwide prospects in current reminiscence, having drawn early comparisons to Bo Jackson, Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout earlier than scoring a $5.1 million signing bonus out of the Dominican Republic, Domínguez can start forging his personal big-league story on Friday. The Yankees plan so as to add the switch-hitting outfielder to the energetic roster, with catcher Austin Wells additionally set for promotion from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“Everyone has asked me what I’ve thought of him, and the only time I’ve ever played with him was during spring,” mentioned Yankees rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe. “I’m like, ‘I don’t think I’ve seen a better player.’ So just based off that, I’m super excited to keep on playing with him.”
How are you able to watch the sport?
Friday’s Yankees sport towards the Astros is ready for 8:10 p.m. ET (7:10 p.m. CT) at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. The sport will likely be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video. It’s additionally the free sport of the day on MLB.TV (out of market).
What place will Domínguez play?
With Harrison Bader having been claimed off waivers by the Reds, middle area is open for Domínguez to select up common taking part in time by way of September. The majority of Domínguez’s skilled expertise has been in middle area (208 begins in 295 video games), although with a nod to their wants on the huge league degree, the Yankees did start providing him reps in left area this season (47 begins, 44 of which got here with Double-A Somerset).
“He’s capable playing out there [in center field],” Boone mentioned. “We’ve obviously played him in left some too this year, trying to start to introduce the corner to him. He has, again, all the raw tools to do it: arm strength, speed, but still an improving player out there as well.”
Why is that this taking place now?
With the Yankees final within the American League East and in peril of their first shedding season since 1992, administration has made a acutely aware shift towards subsequent season. Domínguez’s promotion follows strikes to supply extra taking part in time to youthful prospects like infielder Oswald Peraza and outfielder Everson Pereira.
It helps that Domínguez has been on fireplace since his promotion to Triple-A, batting .419 (13-for-31) with three doubles, a triple, 10 RBIs and three stolen bases in 9 video games. Domínguez batted .254/.367/.414 with 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 37 stolen bases in 109 video games at Double-A Somerset, and the Yankees have been going to have so as to add him to the 40-man roster this offseason anyway to stop Domínguez from being claimed within the Rule 5 Draft.
As needs to be anticipated of a 20-year-old, Domínguez is hardly a completed product; in some respects, he’s nonetheless fairly uncooked. It will likely be a problem to chop down his swings and misses towards huge league pitching; he’s struck out 133 occasions in 456 at-bats this season, although these numbers improved within the second half.
“He’s got power, bat speed and strike zone discipline. He’s had that really from a young age, the ability to understand the strike zone,” Boone mentioned. “We even saw that in Spring Training; you just saw a lot of real quality at-bats. So he has all the physical and raw tools you need, coupled with the DNA to control the strike zone. Now it’s a matter of, can you take that to the highest level in the land and do it consistently there? That’s what we’ll start to see.”
How extremely is Domínguez rated?
Boone mentioned that there isn’t a set plan for Domínguez’s taking part in time, including, “He’ll play a lot; all these young guys are going to play a lot. We’ll just day by day see what matchups are and who’s available and all that, but he’s going to play a lot.” Expect to see Domínguez within the lineup most of the time because the Yankees try to guage in the event that they see Domínguez growing into their beginning centerfielder for the 2024 season.
What uniform quantity will Domínguez put on?
Stay tuned. Domínguez was sporting No. 7 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which is retired for Mantle. He was sporting No. 12 at Somerset, which presently belongs to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. This spring, Domínguez was issued No. 89.
