Yankees call up top prospect Jasson Dominguez, then send him back to Triple-A
Yankees left fielder Jasson Dominguez catches a fly ball by Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows for the out during the first inning of the Little League Classic baseball game at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, the Yankees landed at Williamsport Regional Airport for their Little League Classic game against the Tigers.
About 90 minutes later, “The Martian” landed at Bowman Field.
Jasson Dominguez, 21, the Yankees’ top prospect, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the allowed “27th man” for this MLB jewel event.
The switch-hitting Dominguez immediately was placed in the lineup as the No. 5 hitter and leftfielder against American League Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal, a lefthander. He was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, and on Detroit's walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning, he hesitated before throwing home as the Tigers beat the Yankees, 3-2.
Dominguez made his 2024 big-league debut Sunday after bursting onto the scene last September and hitting four home runs in his first seven games for the Yankees. But Tommy John elbow surgery on Sept. 20 shelved Dominguez until this summer, and a slow start, an oblique injury and a lack of an obvious spot in the Yankees’ lineup kept Dominguez in the minors until Sunday.
His stay in the majors was a short one. Manager Aaron Boone said before Sunday’s game that the expectation was that Dominguez would head back to Triple-A afterward, and that’s exactly what happened.
Dominguez was hitting .280 with three home runs and 14 RBIs for Scranton, the third level he’s played at since returning.
So on a day that was all about the kids — the Yankees mingled with Little Leaguers in a series of perfectly staged events — the youngest Yankee had a slight chance in his cameo appearance to convince the team to keep him on the roster.
“It’s an honor to be here,” Dominguez said. “I’m happy to be here to play in this game and I’m happy that I’m in the lineup.”
Whether he stays or goes depends on whether the Yankees see “a lane” — to use a term general manager Brian Cashman recently uttered about Dominguez — for at least semi-regular playing time.
On Aug. 11, Cashman said on MLB Network Radio: “There’s currently no lane for us to bring him [up]. It’s nice to know he’s there. He’s just knocking rust off and waiting for his opportunity if it comes.”
It came on the day the Yankees flew from Detroit and started hanging out with the Little Leaguers the minute they deplaned. Aaron Judge was swarmed by autograph-seekers, as were all of his teammates to some extent.
Said Judge: “They make you feel like the Beatles out there.”
The Yankees wore their famous pinstriped uniform tops on the plane even though the Tigers were the home team for the game.
From the airport, the Yankees boarded a bus with the youngsters for a joyride to the Little League World Series complex.
Yankees and Tigers players watched LLWS games in the stands with the young players inside Lamade Stadium before the big-leaguers headed over to Bowman Field, a minor-league field that has been in use since 1926 and has hosted six previous Little League Classics, including Mets-Phillies in 2018.
“Hanging out with them was really cool,” Giancarlo Stanton said “They had loads of questions for us and just the curiosity of what this means for us, what it’s like playing in the big leagues, the steps that it takes. Just to be able to converse with them and hang out for a bit was cool.”
Said Anthony Volpe: “They were all blown away with how big Big G and Judge were on the bus.”
No current Yankee ever played in the Little League World Series. Boone was a commentator on ESPN’s LLWS coverage before becoming the Yankees’ manager.
“I had dreams of playing in the Little League World Series from the time I was a little kid,” he said. “Williamsport was just this place that you wanted to go and get to. You saw it on TV. So I dreamt about that.”
Not even a fierce, brief thunderstorm about three hours before game time could ruin the experience for those who attended Sunday’s event — whether it was big leaguers, Little Leaguers or fans.
Said Volpe: “I think just to be able to interact with so many fans and so many of the players and see their excitement to watch us — I think a lot of guys are equally excited to just be there and see the field and see the whole experience.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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