Jasson Dominguez is 'still in play' to join Yankees in final month of season, Aaron Boone says

ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Boone had a simple message for Yankees fans (and there is not an insignificant number of them) who are irate that top position prospect Jasson Dominguez was not among those called up from the minors on Sunday when MLB rosters expanded from 26 to 28.

“Look, he’s still very much in play,” Boone said before Monday night’s game against the Rangers. “Just because it didn’t happen on September 1st doesn’t mean it won’t at some point.”

A month ago, general manager Brian Cashman all but telegraphed the move, telling MLB Network Radio there was “no lane” for Dominguez, 21, to get everyday at-bats.

The Yankees weren’t prepared then to sacrifice Alex Verdugo, a strong defender who has struggled much of the season at the plate, to get Dominguez in the lineup, and they aren’t prepared to do it now.

“I think he’s been excellent,” Boone said of Verdugo defensively. “I think he’s in the Gold Glove conversation. He’s been that good.”

At the plate has been another matter. Verdugo entered Monday hitting .234 with 11 homers and a .655 OPS, although he has been a bit better of late, bringing an 11-for-30 stretch into this series).

Dominguez has mostly been successful at the plate since coming off the injured list (oblique). Going into Monday, he was hitting .307 with nine homers and an .857 OPS in 52 minor-league games, though multiple rival scouts assigned to the Yankees’ system have said he hasn’t been sharp on defense.

“Did not defend as well as I have seen in the past,” one evaluator said recently, though overall, he saw Dominguez as being “ready to go back” to the big leagues.

The Yankees haven’t publicly targeted defensive questions as a reason for keeping Dominguez in the minors, but it can’t be dismissed as at least a contributing factor.

Boone characterized what he’s seen of Dominguez’s defense as “OK.”

“He’s a centerfielder. We’ve obviously had him play some leftfield too,” Boone said. “He’s a really good athlete, so he’s been all right out there. There’s room for improvement out there, no question, but he’s a real athlete out there in the middle of the diamond.”

Dominguez has been on the radar of the fan base for years — pretty much from the time the Yankees gave him a franchise-record signing bonus of $5.1 million in July 2019, when he was 16.

After being called up, the switch hitter made an immediate impact on Sept. 1 last season, homering off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander at Houston’s Minute Maid Park in the first at-bat of his career. Dominguez hit four home runs in eight games and had a .980 OPS before suffering a UCL tear in his right elbow that resulted in season-ending Tommy John surgery.

His recovery has been extensively followed and charted every step of the way, with the calls from the outside for his promotion to the big leagues steadily increasing as Verdugo’s difficulties at the plate mounted.

In the end, the Yankees — and it should be pointed out that there hardly is unanimity in this feeling — value what Verdugo brings on defense. They also are not entirely certain of what they have in Dominguez.

His big-league career comprises all of 35 at-bats, including 31 last year. He also had four on Aug. 18 as the 27th man for the Yankees’ game in Williamsport against the Tigers in the Little League Classic, a game in which he hesitated before throwing home as the winning run scored.

“He hasn’t racked up a ton of at-bats this year, and when he came back from the oblique injury, second half he struggled a little bit,” Boone said. “Feel like he’s getting on a roll now a little bit, but that involves some tough decisions there for a guy that hasn’t played a ton yet even at the Triple-A level, let alone was in the big leagues last year [for a short time].

“Look, we’re paying attention to it. He’s on our board. Frankly, there’s probably no one higher on Jasson Dominguez than me. I think he’s going to be a great player in this league. I love the makeup, I love the person. All I can say is he’s very much in the mix right now, but we’re not ready to make that move yet.”