Jasson Dominguez’s spring training ends with big Yankees impression

Jasson Dominguez’s spring training ends with big Yankees impression

LAKELAND, Fla. — In having the inevitable but difficult conversation with Jasson Dominguez, Aaron Boone told the young outfielder he didn’t expect many more of those talks.

“Told him I don’t plan on sending him down very often,” the Yankees manager said Friday, a day after the Yankees cut Dominguez from big-league camp.

“The Martian” played up to his otherworldly nickname.

In 11 Grapefruit League games, Dominguez hit .455 (10-for-22) with four home runs, a double, nine RBIs, a steal and as many walks (three) as strikeouts.

A player who turned 20 last month never had a chance to make the Yankees out of camp, but Dominguez has put himself firmly on their radar.

After an up-and-down first minor league season in 2021, Dominguez took off in 2022 and kept the momentum going in spring training.

Boone pinpointed the way Dominguez conducted his spring at-bats — with the ability to lay off balls, be selective and still make hard contact — as a standout skill.


Yankees Jasson Dominguez pointing after hitting in the batting cageJasson Dominguez showed off his strong bat, impressing Yankees brass.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Then he watched Dominguez, who stole 37 minor league bases last season, line a double into the right-field corner Thursday and hustle his way to second.

Boone watched the speed and said, “Whoa.”

“I think [Dominguez] kind of showed all of us that reason to be excited about what his future is,” Boone said of Dominguez, who conquered A-ball last year (with a .906 OPS in High-A Hudson Valley) and touched Double-A Somerset by the end of the season. “The biggest thing is to continue to get him playing.

“He’s certainly probably a lot closer now and certainly on our radar with how the last 12 months have gone for him.”


Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez, running after a fly ballDominguez will head to Double-A, where he’ll get some experience in the outfield.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The most logical next step for Dominguez is back at Double-A, and “I don’t think what we saw here changes that,” Boone said.

Dominguez needs more reps, with just five games of Double-A experience and zero games in which he has played a corner-outfield spot.

Boone indicated the Yankees will move him around the outfield in the minors to help his flexibility.

Boone’s overall message to the jewel of the 2019 international signing period was to keep playing exactly as he has been playing because, “We all believe he can be impactful up here.”

“Excited to see where this year takes him,” Boone said before the Yankees played the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium, “and we’ll see where he ends up.”