World Series: Yankees hope Jasson Dominguez benefits from experience of playoff ride
Jasson Dominguez #89 of the Yankees looks on against the Kansas City Royals in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
If Jasson Dominguez is the Yankees’ future, they remain in the present.
A perennial presence on top-prospects lists, Dominguez has been on the roster throughout October but has been limited to three appearances — all as a pinch runner — and zero at-bats. The Yankees still think very highly of him, but they don’t consider him their best option right now.
The mere experience of being here, though, will be helpful for Dominguez in 2025 and beyond, they hope.
“I feel like he's going to be such a good player,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday afternoon, before Game 4 of the World Series against the Dodgers. “He's an important part of that room, and we know his future is incredibly bright. So hopefully the experience that he's gained being around and being in this environment and having to prepare every day — hopefully that’s one of those ingredients that serve him well moving forward.”
Anthony Rizzo, regarded as a valuable veteran voice, said: “The experience of being up here is amazing. You can't replicate this by watching. He's in the trenches with us and all the meetings . . . his future, his ceiling is so high and he's such a good person, and he works hard. His moment might come tonight, and he'll be ready.”
For as long as Dominguez has been highly hyped — since even before he signed for a then-franchise record $5.1 million bonus as a 16-year-old in 2019 — his major-league sample size remains small.
He first made it to The Show near the end of last season, homering four times in eight games. Then he blew out his right elbow and needed Tommy John surgery, costing him much of 2024. Upon returning to the majors late this season, a de facto tryout for a larger role in the Yankees’ postseason plans, Dominguez didn’t do nearly as well in 18 games, batting .179 with a .617 OPS.
That is why the Yankees have stuck with Alex Verdugo, who is especially better defensively, as their go-to leftfielder throughout the playoffs. Thus, Dominguez, 21, has mostly just watched.
“At the end when he came up, there was some competition for an outfield spot,” Boone said. “Struggled a little bit defensively. Didn't totally get it going offensively up here, although I thought he finished really well in Triple-A and started to string it together like we know he's capable of. There just hasn't been obviously the starting opportunities for him, where Dugie's kind of taken it and run and what he brings to us defensively out there.”
Dominguez remains, of course, a big piece of the Yankees’ plans. With Verdugo and Juan Soto headed for free agency this offseason, there should be at least one opening in the outfield come 2025.
He isn’t alone in this, either. Also falling into the category of young or young-ish, controllable players who would seem to be key pieces moving forward are infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., righthander Clarke Schmidt, shortstop Anthony Volpe, catcher Austin Wells, and righthander Luis Gil. Chisholm is due to be a free agent after the 2026 season, the rest not until later. The Soto sweepstakes will be a primary storyline of the Yankees’ offseason, but they seem to have a foundation in place to go with likely AL MVP Aaron Judge.
“It's our job to help prepare him as best we can, and I know he's focused and ready to go when his number's called,” Boone said of Dominguez.
Rizzo, a free agent after the season, may well not be around when Dominguez’s time comes. He said he knows these could be his final games in a Yankee uniform, adding: “I love playing here. I love being a Yankee. I love what comes with it. I love the standard that has been set here from all the generations, the great Yankees in the past. Yeah, this could very well be [the end for him with the team]. I'm a realist. I'm not naive to it.”
If that turns out to be the case, he’ll be invested in Dominguez’s career from afar.
“He asks all the right questions,” Rizzo said. “He's worked really hard on his English. He speaks really good English. That doesn't go overlooked. It's not easy being a foreign player and coming here and learning the language. He cares about his teammates. He cares about his work. I'm excited to see his future develop.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
