TAMPA, Fla. -- At-bats grew scarce for Jasson Domínguez after the All-Star break last year, prompting an internal Yankees debate: Would his development be better served by a return to the Minor Leagues?
General manager Brian Cashman has acknowledged that he considered optioning Domínguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during the second half of last season, but ultimately decided against it.
“He wasn’t playing. I could have sent him to Triple-A,” Cashman said. “I didn’t think that was right to do, either. He provided the chance for us to run into something off the bench, especially with his speed to go along with [José] Caballero. But I still think there’s some upside there.”
That conversation figures to continue this spring, with starting outfield roles currently claimed by Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Thursday that “barring something unforeseen,” Domínguez -- who turns 23 on Saturday -- looks to be ticketed for Triple-A.
Also potentially displaced is Spencer Jones, who turns 25 in May and had been projected to challenge Domínguez for the starting left-field job before Bellinger signed a five-year, $162.5 million contract in January.
“The reality is, we have a lot of really good players,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Jasson and Spencer are part of that.”
One of baseball’s most celebrated prospects in recent memory, the switch-hitting Domínguez homered in his first Major League at-bat in 2023 off the Astros’ Justin Verlander. His debut was cut short after just eight games, however, when he required Tommy John surgery.
Domínguez played in just 18 big league games in 2024, most of them in September. Over 123 games last season, he batted .257/.331/.388 with 18 doubles, 10 homers, 47 RBIs and 23 stolen bases, making all of his defensive appearances in left field.
Cashman said the Yankees envisioned more playing time for Domínguez, but Grisham’s offensive emergence changed the landscape.
One area the Yanks would like to see improvement is Domínguez’s performance against left-handed pitching. He has batted .186 (22-for-118) with one home run and nine RBIs against big league lefties.
“We’re talking about a very, very young player that didn’t play a ton of Minor League baseball,” Boone said. “And what suffers from that? The side you don’t hit from as much. He’s a natural right-handed hitter, so I don’t think it’s out of the question that at some point the right-handed catches up to the left side.”
Asked if Domínguez could still develop into a productive switch-hitter, Cashman said it remains “a fair question that’s still an unknown.”
“It’s a lot of development that he’s missed early on, whether it was [the 2020] COVID [season] or an injury with the Tommy John,” Cashman said. “So I think there’s still the area for [saying], ‘Just go let him play.’”
Seven weeks of Spring Training could provide clarity. As Cashman has noted, any injury to a starting outfielder would create opportunities.
The Yankees must also consider how much playing time Giancarlo Stanton can be counted upon for. Stanton was limited to 77 games last year by severe tennis elbow in both arms, an issue that has not fully healed but is believed to be manageable.
“We have a long time to go between now and the first Spring Training game, and certainly Opening Day,” Boone said. “You never know what’s going to come down the pike.”