As injuries mount, Yanks counting on this player to help carry load

NEW YORK -- Jasson Domínguez’s rise through the Minor League ranks several years ago as a prized prospect was closely followed, but it also drew considerable attention when the outfielder did not earn a spot on the Yankees’ big league club to start this season.

"I've had very good moments, very bad moments, but that's what sports are about and those are things I can't control," Domínguez said this week about the time he spent in the Minor Leagues to start 2026. "I do control my part, which is to come and do my job, try to help the team as best as I can and prepare myself as best as I can."

Domínguez’s time in the Minor Leagues to start the year didn’t necessarily mean he was not part of the Yankees’ plans for 2026, as was evident when he was promoted from Triple-A one month into the season.

Although his promotion was in the wake of Giancarlo Stanton’s right calf injury, it was also, in a respect, a reward for the perseverance and mindset he showed at the beginning of the season at Triple-A.

"First of all, I think Jasson’s handled everything this year really, really well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "You know, as a player, as a pro, as a person. He came into Spring Training where, if we’re healthy there was a chance he was going back to Triple-A and I think he knew that, he probably saw that writing on the wall a little bit.

"And you wonder how that’s going to affect a young player and all he did was go out … I thought he had an excellent spring. Had the same good attitude that he normally does and then goes back down to Triple-A to start the year, gets off to a good start and earns the opportunity to come back when a spot opened up.”

After just nine games in his first stint in New York in 2026, that opportunity was interrupted due to a left shoulder sprain he suffered while making a catch in left field on May 7. But upon his recovery, and with the injuries to Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham, the team has ridden with Domínguez in the outfield regularly.

At the plate, Domínguez is still a work in progress, hitting .213/.253/.383 in 26 games, after slashing .257/.331/.388 in 123 contests last season. While the Yankees await the return of some of their marquee names – with Judge obviously the biggest – an uptick in production from Domínguez would be welcome in the Bronx.

"I feel like he has done more than hold his own," Boone said. "But even with Jasson though, he’s capable of more than what he’s doing now even. You know, he’s another guy that, especially with some guys out, we need to get him going at a level that I think he’s capable of, which is a high-level hitter. And hopefully he can be one of those guys that helps spark us as we go through it a little bit."

On the other side of the ball, Domínguez has continued adapting to right field, although he expressed that his change of position in the outfield in previous years now gives him some confidence during this current transition.

"Moving from [center to left] gave me a bit of trouble at first," Domínguez said. "But I think that experience [in previous years] helped me make the transition a little better to [right field] and overall, so far, I've felt good."

His work during the offseason and the confidence the club has shown in him are not the only things that have allowed Domínguez to feel more confident during his time in New York. The opportunity to share a clubhouse with three former MVPs -- Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt -- has been key for him.

"It's a unique opportunity," Domínguez said. "It's a very big opportunity in life that not many people get to experience -- sometimes there's one on a team, on others none, but there are several MVPs on this team. Everything they can bring to you is really an honor and a unique opportunity for me.”