Yankees call up Jasson Dominguez

The trip to the Bronx from Mars just took a little time, is all.

Eight days after not being part of the Yankees’ Sept. 1 call-ups, Jasson Dominguez — aka the Martian — made his return to the big leagues on Monday afternoon. He was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, played centerfield and batted sixth in the series opener against the Royals at the Stadium. The Yankees placed DJ LeMahieu (hip) on the 10-day injured list in the corresponding move.

Manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashwanted to ensure that the switch-hitting rookie would get regular playing time before bringing him back to the big leagues. It was something Cashman didn’t think could be the case as recently as Friday, even with the light-hitting Alex Verdugo patrolling leftfield.

“If he comes, he’s got to play,” Cashman said in Chicago. “He’s not going to come here and just sit . . .

“The evaluations that we’re having with our field staff and player development staff and front-office staff is just, ‘What is going to give us the best chance to win?’ As of right now [Friday], we’re staying with what we’ve got, but we’re always in the position to change our minds at some point, too.”

Verdugo played leftfield on Monday night as the Yankees opted to rest Giancarlo Stanton and use Aaron Judge as the DH. Boone said they’ll continue to “mix and match” and called the roster “a living, breathing organism every day that’s always evolving.”

But is the plan to pretty much play Dominguez every day?

“Jasson’s going to play a lot,” Boone said, grinning.

With the Yankees trailing 2-0 in the fourth Monday, Dominguez singled, eventually stole third with two outs and scored on Salvador Perez’s throwing error. Four pitches later, Verdugo’s two-run homer gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Boone said that most days, Judge and Stanton will retain their spots in centerfield and at DH, which, by all calculations, makes Verdugo the odd man out.

“I’ve been a huge fan ever since I met [Dominguez].” Boone said. “I just love his makeup, his talent. He has earned this opportunity now . . . He’s been playing really well now for a few weeks and, I feel like, stringing together some of his best baseball here.”

Fans have clamored for Dominguez’s return after a very memorable MLB debut last season: He was called up on Sept. 1, homered off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in his first at-bat and wound up with four home runs in eight games. He had a .258/.303/.677 slash line before injuring his UCL on Sept. 9 and having Tommy John surgery.

Dominguez began this year on the 60-day injured list, started his rehab assignment in early June and suffered a significant oblique strain less than two weeks later. He resumed play in late July, and in 44 Triple-A games, he had a .309/.368/.480 slash line, seven homers, 25 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Three of those homers have come in his last eight games, a span in which he’s gone 11-for-32 (.344).

“I think as much as anything, it’s just continuing to build on the momentum that he’s built over the last few weeks, where we feel like [he’s] really starting to be at the peak of the season and playing at a really high level,” Boone said. “He’s been knocking at that door, and now seemed like the time to bring him up.”

Because Dominguez, 21, came into the day with only 35 major-league at bats, he’ll retain his rookie eligibility for next season (a player must not exceed 130 at-bats in a regular season to keep his rookie status).

Boone said he’d have conversations with Verdugo and Trent Grisham, who likely will get less playing time.

Among the 25 qualified American League outfielders, Verdugo is 24th with a wRC+ of 84 (100 is average on the weighted runs created scale), according to FanGraphs. Considered a glove-first outfielder, he’s also been below average there, with a minus-1 outs above average, according to Baseball Savant. He’s been hitting better as of late, but there was an outcry when Dominguez wasn’t originally called up to take his place.

Boone said the Martian was always on the radar.

“It’s all hands on deck,” Boone said. “He was in the conversation every single day.”

And now — at long last — he’s in the lineup, too.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.