Jasson Dominguez has been a talking point for the Yankees for a while now, and not without reason. Starting in the minors in 2021, Dominguez was in the limelight from the beginning. With a 5.1 million dollar signing bonus on his belt, there was certainly no lack of pressure to excel in every aspect of the game. In his 4 years in the Yankees minor league system, he posted a career .373 on base percentage with a .274 batting average. Certainly nothing to scoff at, but many fans were still skeptical that those numbers would translate at the big-league level.
After suffering a UCL injury in 2023, he missed a good portion of the 2024 season in order to fully recover. Returning from injury, he posted a career high batting average as well as a career high slugging percentage, boosting the faith of fans and bringing some anticipation into his call-up. He did get that call in September, and was bound for the big league spotlight once again. Over an 18 game stretch, the numbers were slightly disappointing for fans, and certainly not how Dominguez had hoped for. With such a small sample size, it’s encouraging that this was likely just a bad stretch, as all players have time to time. He’s a young player, with astronomical potential, especially considering the faith Aaron Boone and the Yankees organization are putting in him.
Dominguez will be starting the year in left field, rather than his typical centerfield position. There will always be a learning curve with things like this, and it’s important for the team and fans to not be discouraged by the occasional error or subpar batting. This is still a young player that’s adjusting to being in the lineup as a full time starter, and a rocky start is to be expected. I think that throughout the first 2 months of the season, the anxiety of left field coverage will diminish and he’ll show us what he can do. I don’t think he’s a top 100 fantasy draft player, but he’s certainly going to be picked up and you won’t catch him on the waiver wire barring unforeseen circumstances. I think Jasson Dominguez is an absolute boom this year, and we’re going to see the best side of a healthy young player showing his talent. Continue tracking his stats through spring training, but don’t think that’s all he’s going to do. Once the regular season starts, then he’ll be able to start and finish each game, and really get into the rhythm of playing in the spotlight.
