{"id":571571,"date":"2026-02-14T05:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T05:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/571571\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T05:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T05:05:57","slug":"jasson-dominguez-facing-uphill-battle-to-make-yankees-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/571571\/","title":{"rendered":"Jasson Dominguez facing uphill battle to make Yankees’ roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA \u2014 When Jasson Dom\u00ednguez was squeezed out of playing time late last season, the Yankees could have sent him to Triple-A.<\/p>\n

But Brian Cashman \u201cdidn\u2019t think that was right to do,\u201d he acknowledged over the winter, because there was still a role for the outfielder to play off the bench in a playoff chase.<\/p>\n

Now the Yankees are entering a spring in which they have another crowded outfield, with even more dollars committed to Trent Grisham<\/a> and Cody Bellinger<\/a>, and Dom\u00ednguez on the outside looking in. <\/p>\n

Might the new year and new situation change the equation for whether Dom\u00ednguez will be optioned to Triple-A once camp breaks?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf everything stays the same, we\u2019ll be forced to determine what\u2019s our best course of action to help this team be impactful,\u201d Cashman said Friday from Steinbrenner Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would concede it\u2019s in his best interest to be getting everyday reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewJasson Dom\u00ednguez hits a ground-rule double during the Yankees\u2019 Aug. 27 game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Realistically, barring injuries, the only place for that to happen would appear to be at Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre.<\/p>\n

Dom\u00ednguez just turned 23 and the Yankees, through some of his growing pains last year, often pointed to the fact that he did not play a whole lot during his rise through the minors because of injuries and having a season wiped out by COVID. <\/p>\n

So there is value in giving him a chance to go play every day in the minor leagues, even after spending all of last season in The Bronx and providing some production in 429 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

That case is only bolstered by the fact that there is not a clear lane for Dom\u00ednguez to play off the bench, other than pinch-running. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo beyond the box score with the Bombers\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

He is a switch-hitter who is stronger from the left side, but Grisham and Bellinger also hit left-handed. <\/p>\n

The last spot on the Yankees\u2019 bench \u2014 especially after they re-signed Paul Goldschmidt<\/a> \u2014 may be better used for a right-handed hitting outfielder, and\/or an above-average defensive left fielder, which Dom\u00ednguez was not last season.<\/p>\n

\"NewJasson Dom\u00ednguez makes a catch during the Yankees\u2019 July 28 game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cDom\u00ednguez is an extremely talented player,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of our best runners. So having him as a choice for our manager to use coming off the bench at times as a pinch-runner to steal a bag or first to third, second to home, what have you, definitely improves our chances of success because of his pure athleticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to wait and see how the spring shakes out, who\u2019s standing and then we\u2019ll make the appropriate decisions when we have our meetings closer to the end of camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would only take one injury for Dom\u00ednguez to jump back in the mix, though Spencer Jones \u2014 the center fielder with thunderous power but high strikeout rates \u2014 will also try to make his case to be the next man up this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepth chart, in theory, you\u2019d have him behind Dom\u00ednguez going in because Dom\u00ednguez has had more experience than he does,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cBut that\u2019s not going to stop him in competition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 When Jasson Dom\u00ednguez was squeezed out of playing time late last season, the Yankees could have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,3289,4,1690,62,2548,2547,185,151,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-571571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-jasson-dominguez","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-yankees","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkyankees","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-spring-training","17":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116067249165148633","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}