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New York Yankees phenom Jasson Dominguez appears to be inching closer and closer to a big-league return.
Dominguez, who is on the mend from Tommy John surgery, will begin a rehab assignment in Single-A Tampa on Monday, the Yankees announced.
Manager Aaron Boone previously provided a positive update on Dominguez last week.
The 21-year-old outfielder was called up to the majors last September, but his stay did not last very long, as he was diagnosed with a torn UCL in his throwing elbow just nine days after his promotion. Typically, that is an injury that a pitcher incurs, but it's not entirely shocking that an outfielder can sustain it with all of those long throws.
Dominguez played in just eight games before going down with the injury last season. During his time on the field, he was impressive, slashing .258/.303/.677 with four home runs and seven RBI across 33 plate appearances.
Obviously, that is a very small sample size, but it's just a taste of what New York is hoping the Dominican native can achieve on the major-league level.
Dominguez had been one of the top prospects in baseball for several years prior to his call-up, and in 118 minor-league games between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season, Dominguez slashed .265/.377/.425 with 15 long balls and 76 RBI. He also stole 40 bases.
The Yankees initially signed Dominguez as an international free agent back in July 2019.
What will the Yankees do with Jasson Dominguez once he returns?
That begs the question: what will the Yanks do with Dominguez once he returns to the field?
Right now, New York boasts one of the best outfields in baseball with Alex Verdugo, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Dominguez certainly isn't going to play over Judge or Soto, and it seems hard to imagine him bumping Verdugo out of the starting lineup.
The problem then becomes playing time for Dominguez in general.
Of course, the Yankees can always use him as a fourth outfielder, but wouldn't New York want him getting consistent reps? He likely won't get that in the Bronx in 2024 given how well Verdugo has played. The Bombers would probably like to get Judge out of center field, but again, that would require sending him to a corner outfield spot and removing Verdugo or Soto (yeah that'll happen) from the lineup.
Now, the thing is, Verdugo is only signed to a one-year deal, so the Yankees may very well part ways with him after this season in order to get Dominguez a starting job. So, if Dominguez is patient, he may have to spend one more season in the minor leagues before getting an opportunity to play a full campaign in the majors in 2025.
It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, either. It would allow Dominguez to properly work his way back from surgery, feasting on minor-league pitching rather than having to go against the big boys in the majors. New York could then always bring Dominguez up in September call-ups just to have him on the bench with the team and to maybe get a few spot starts here and there.
The other alternative is to trade Dominguez, but barring a blockbuster deal in which the Yanks land a bona fide superstar in return, that probably isn't happening.
