In need of an additional boost to their lineup and seemingly doing everything possible to avoid it, the New York Yankees finally called up Jasson Dominguez from Triple-A on Monday.
The 21-year-old outfielder had been tearing it up in the minors after completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last season, and an oblique injury. In 53 games across multiple minor-league levels, he was batting .314 with an .817 OPS, 11 home runs, and 58 RBI. Five of those home runs and 17 RBI came in the last month with Triple-A Scranton.
Dominguez made his MLB debut late last season, getting off to a historic start with four home runs in his first eight games. Yet the track record and his resurgence in the minors this summer were met with hesitation from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who initially said the team’s best chance of winning was with veteran Alex Verdugo manning left field.
Verdugo, acquired from the Boston Red Sox during the offseason, is batting .235 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI in 137 games. He has struggled overall since June 19 (65 games), batting .207 with a paltry .555 OPS.
While Dominguez does not have the same reliable glove as Verdugo, his bat holds far more pop, which can lengthen a Yankees lineup that had grown stale as of late. Despite taking two of three games from the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, they scored a combined six runs, while Aaron Judge entered Monday night without a home run in his last 12 games. He has batted .186 during that stretch, as well.
Outside of Judge and Juan Soto, no other Yankees player has an OPS over .800, and Giancarlo Stanton is the only other Bronx Bomber with more than 12 home runs this season. Dominguez can help rectify the lack of depth immediately batting behind New York’s fearsome duo.
With 35 career MLB at-bats, Dominguez will lose his rookie status if he exceeds 130 at-bats this season, which is something to potentially keep an eye on as manager Aaron Boone balances his playing time.
