Yankees' Jasson Dominguez, expected to be starting leftfielder, loses one in sun during spring training game

TAMPA, Fla. — Jasson Dominguez entered spring training with the starting job in leftfield his to lose, but the Yankees need to feel comfortable with the rookie in the field after his brief,  somewhat disastrous foray there late last season.

Sunday, when he made his second exhibition start in leftfield, wasn’t the best day for the 22-year-old. He lost a ball in the sun in the third inning and took a poor route on a ball in the gap an inning later, leading to an RBI double. He did make a nice read and catch on a sinking liner off the bat of Hao-Yu Lee to start the third.

“What happened here today I think is just really good teaching moments,” said third-base coach Luis Rojas, who also coaches the club’s outfielders and who worked with Dominguez at the minor-league complex here for two weeks before position players reported.

It should be noted that Dominguez need not be perfect in the field. That is not a requirement for him to be in the Stadium’s expansive leftfield for the season opener March 27 against the Brewers. It also should be noted that it’s not as if Sunday damaged that plan.

Dominguez, whom opposing team scouts generally graded as an average and at times better than that centerfielder during his rapid climb through the minor leagues, merely needs to show himself to be something other than a liability on defense.

“There’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to handle leftfield,” Aaron Boone said after Sunday’s 4-0 Grapefruit League loss to the Tigers.

In the third inning, Dominguez was in position to catch a routine fly ball by Colt Keith but, at the last moment, lost the ball in the sun, hardly an infrequent occurrence in the afternoon sun in spring training.

“That’s what can happen down here,” Boone said.

Dominguez did recover quickly, throwing the ball into shortstop Anthony Volpe, who cut down former Yankee Jahmai Jones at the plate to complete a 7-6-2 putout.

In the fourth, Andy Ibanez hammered one into the gap, a drive that would have been a difficult play even if Dominguez had taken a good route to the ball. But he didn’t, and the ball landed for a run-scoring double.

“I want to look at video a little more, but it seemed, just watching live, that he got away from his running form a little bit toward the end,” Rojas said. “I don’t know what was the catch probability on that, but definitely something we’re going to break down and talk about.”

The Yankees intentionally put Dominguez’s locker between a pair of former Most Valuable Players — Aaron Judge, who was named American League MVP in 2022 and 2024, and Cody Bellinger, who captured National League MVP honors with the Dodgers in 2019 — in order for him to soak up as much from the two established big-leaguers as possible.

Bellinger and Judge also were Rookies of the Year in 2017, something the Yankees' captain and Bellinger have discussed with Dominguez.

“He's definitely a five-tool player,” Judge said earlier in camp. “The sky is the limit for him. Me and Bellinger were joking with him about, 'Hey, you have two Rookie of the Years right next to you. This is going to be your year.’”

Bellinger, traded  to the Yankees from the Cubs in the offseason, met Dominguez for the first time in camp and was quickly won over.

“Love him,” Bellinger said before leaving the clubhouse Sunday. “He’s a great kid. Love him as a kid. Very knowledgeable. And his presence, he’s very into what he’s doing. Talent obviously speaks for itself. The swing, both sides of the plate by the way, are really good. It’s hard enough to have one swing. I love the way he works. And he’s a great guy in the clubhouse as well.”

Bellinger has no doubt that Dominguez will be up to speed in leftfield sooner rather than later.

“His ability is through the roof, and I’m definitely here for him,” Bellinger said. “I’ve got full confidence in him, in the guy he is and the player he is.”

Notes & quotes: Gerrit Cole, after his fourth live batting practice, is likely to make a Grapefruit League start Friday night against the Blue Jays . . .  Newfield High School graduate Sean Boyle, a 28-year-old righthander who also pitched for Suffolk  CC and who is in camp as a non-roster invitee, started Sunday and allowed four hits and a walk in three innings, striking out two.