October is not the time for Yankees to wait out Jasson Dominguez's defensive struggles
Yankees outfielders Alex Verdugo, left, and Jasson Dominguez. Credit: AP / Seth Wening; Jim McIsaac
The Yankees had plenty on their minds Thursday after whiffing badly in their first two Bronx attempts to close out the Orioles for the AL East title.
One thing they didn’t seem particularly alarmed about — at least not immediately — was continuing to play the defensively suspect Jasson Dominguez in leftfield, as he started there again for the series finale, the Yankees’ magic number still teetering at one.
Manager Aaron Boone has yet to reveal what would be the tipping point for Dominguez to lose his slippery grip on the position to the incumbent Alex Verdugo. But put it this way: The Yankees are being awfully forgiving when it comes to their highly touted outfield prospect. And that patience can’t last forever, especially with October right around the corner.
For now, the Martian seems safe, and Boone didn’t dismiss the idea that the Yankees could even shuffle their outfield alignment to better accommodate Dominguez, who has the bulk of his minor-league experience in center. That would shift Aaron Judge back to rightfield and slide Juan Soto to the other corner spot in left, where he’s made only six starts this year (but has spent more than half his career playing)
When the concept was pitched to Boone before Thursday’s game, and he was asked if they had considered it, the manager replied, “Not yet.”
Potentially in the near future?
“We’ll see,” Boone said.
That’s probably the most extreme measure to save Dominguez’s job: Uprooting Judge as he wraps up what is likely to be his second MVP season and relocating Soto, the pending free agent you’re trying to entice to stay (along with giving him $600 million). But Boone leaving that door open for Dominguez shows how badly they’re banking on the Martian’s bat to make all this worth the effort.
So far, Dominguez’s most attractive quality is that he’s not Verdugo, who developed into a serious offensive liability over what is almost surely to be the free agent’s final weeks wearing pinstripes. But that charm won’t last forever. Not when Dominguez’s glove is costing the Yankees runs (plural) on an all-too-frequent basis, and his bat isn’t making up the difference (.200 BA, 2 HRs, .650 OPS in 14 games).
“I’m just really trying to let things declare themselves here in this final week,” Boone said. “Obviously we’ll have tough decisions to make as we get into the playoffs. I feel like both guys bring a lot to the table, so it’s tough call, frankly night in and night out.”
Verdugo hasn’t made much of a case for himself either, hitting .236 with one homer and a .579 OPS in his 16 games this month. But if both candidates are equally bad at the plate, Boone will have little choice but to go with the player that at least catches the ball on a more consistent basis. And from what we’ve witnessed so far, that’s Verdugo, without much of a debate.
Just over the past week, Dominguez committed two costly defensive blunders — both in the first inning — that helped dig an early hole the Yankees never recovered from. The first came in Seattle, where Dominguez flat-out dropped a bases-loaded fly ball off the bat of the Mariners’ Justin Turner, a mistake that spurred a three-run rally in the eventual 3-2 loss at T-Mobile Park.
Back home Wednesday night at the Stadium — with its expansive, still unfamiliar leftfield lawn — Dominguez turned Colton Cowser’s semi-routine fly ball into a two-run single, helping to hang another 3-0 deficit on the Yankees (in the 9-7 loss). Dominguez gave chase into the leftfield corner but went too far, then desperately reached back over his head in a futile effort to corral the baseball.
“I lost it at the end,” Dominguez said. “But there’s no excuse. That ball has to be caught.”
This is not what the Yankees imagined when GM Brian Cashman finally called up the Martian on Sept. 9, more than a week after MLB rosters officially expanded — and the public outcry had reached deafening levels. The club’s decision-makers figured on more growing pains — Dominguez is only 20, and has spent far more time rehabbing from injuries than gaining major-league experience (just eight games with the Yankees a year ago). But it’s the Yankees that Dominguez is hurting lately, and this is not Steinbrenner Field in mid-March.
“I haven’t played a ton of games in leftfield,” Dominguez said. “I feel like I can do it pretty much. Obviously there’s things I need to work on. But I feel like, with more work, I will get there.”
Dominguez made good on those words Thursday afternoon, as he was one of the few Yankees on the field ahead of batting practice, tracking down fly balls under the supervision of outfield coach Luis Rojas. While rightfield is a postage-stamp piece of grass at the Stadium, it’s the opposite in left, where the green canyon that fronts the opposing team’s bullpen narrows quickly toward the foul pole — and the corner feels cavernous with two decks overhanging it. Factor in the dramatic hooking or slicing spin, and the transition can take some time, even for the most accomplished centerfielders.
But the Yankees don’t have that luxury. They’ll eventually nail down the division title, but October isn’t for training wheels. And if Dominguez doesn’t start doing more damage than he causes, Boone won’t really have much of a choice after all.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
