New York Yankees star prospect Jasson Dominguez has been embarrassing minor league pitchers this season, slashing .356/.404/.609 across 23 games. However, his progress towards rejoining New York's big-league team has stopped.
Dominguez will be out for at least two months with a left oblique strain, via The Athletic's Brandon Kuty.
“Dominguez out for at least 8 weeks, Boone says,” Kuty tweeted.
Boone elaborated on the injury Thursday, via SNY.
“Pretty significant strain,” Boone said. “Probably up to eight weeks until he's playing in games.”
On one hand, New York isn't losing much now, as there's no space for “The Martian” in its outfield. Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo, and backup Trent Grisham have already locked their roles. However, if one of them were to get seriously injured, Dominguez would've been next in line to get called up.
With Soto and Judge both having recent injury scares, Dominguez's ailment will cause some nerves in Yankeeland. It thins out the depth in the farm system, as their next-best option is Double-A outfielder Spencer Jones. While Jones is a promising prospect, he's slashing just .242/.328/.384 with six homers and 32 RBI across 53 games. For context, Dominguez had the same amount of homers with 30 less games played.
Will New York be able to survive without Dominguez waiting in the wings the next couple of months?
The Yankees will be in trouble if a star gets hurt before Dominguez is ready
Dominguez's brief run in the majors this past September showcased his tantalizing potential. The 21-year-old hit .258 with four homers and seven RBI in just eight games, with the first homer coming on his very first swing against modern legend Justin Verlander. He became the youngest MLB player to go yard in his debut, and also the youngest to do so in his first at-bat.
However, Dominguez tore his UCL, ending his brief stint in the Big Show. The Dominican native's new injury is particularly unlucky, as he recently finished recovering from Tommy John surgery.
For now, the Yankees will simply have to survive with their current cast of outfielders. Just as they did with Judge's recent hand injury, they should be cautious with any ailments going forward, as they won't have many quality options to call up for the foreseeable future.
In the meantime, Grisham should do the trick as a temporary backup. The veteran currently has just six hits in 60 at-bats but is a career .212 hitter with 64 homers and RBI.
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