with a possible trip to Triple-A waiting<\/a> at the end of the spring if everyone stays healthy.<\/p>\nIn a span of 365 days, his role has become much less certain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is baseball, a lot of things can happen,\u201d Dom\u00ednguez said Sunday. \u201cAt the end of the day, depending on the situation, they got to do what\u2019s best for the team. Whatever decision they make, I\u2019ll be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reality is that it would take just one injury from the projected starting outfield of Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, or to DH Giancarlo Stanton, for Dom\u00ednguez to be thrust back into the picture. <\/p>\n
Jasson Dom\u00ednguez makes a catch during the Yankees\u2019 spring training workout Feb. 15. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
The same goes for Spencer Jones, the top Yankees outfield prospect, whose path to the big leagues is currently blocked.<\/p>\n
But in the meantime, entering the first full-squad workout Monday, the 23-year-old Dom\u00ednguez may be fighting an uphill battle to actually break camp with the big league club.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one thing I can\u2019t control,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t make the decisions. But I\u2019m trying to do my best to get the best results that I can get. That\u2019s what I\u2019m focused on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
General manager Brian Cashman acknowledged Friday that it would be in Dom\u00ednguez\u2019s best interest to be playing every day, which is likely only to happen at Triple-A barring an injury. <\/p>\n
After playing an everyday role for the Yankees during the first few months of last season, Dom\u00ednguez began to get squeezed out of playing time down the stretch once they were fully healthy and in the playoff chase.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Since then, the Yankees have only become more financially invested in the two outfielders in Dom\u00ednguez\u2019s way, Bellinger (who re-signed on a five-year, $162.5 million contract) and Grisham (who accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer).<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost, JD\u2019s a really good player that had a good season for a 22-year-old in his first full year,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cHe gained a lot of valuable experience. We think there\u2019s a lot more in there, too. I think he has a chance to be an outstanding player. We\u2019ll let things shake out. We have a long way to go between now and Opening Day. The biggest thing is he\u2019s here to work, here to get better. When decisions come our way, we\u2019ll make them the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jasson Dom\u00ednguez is pictured during the Yankees\u2019 spring training workout Feb. 15. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
The best thing that Dom\u00ednguez can do this spring is force the Yankees into a difficult decision, which could happen if he shows he has made gains in two clear areas: defensively in left field and offensively from the right side of the plate. <\/p>\n
The switch-hitter struggled with the former, recording minus-seven defensive runs saved after a rocky transition from center to left, and the latter, his OPS nearly 200 points lower from the right side compared to the left.<\/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
Improving at both was an offseason focus for Dom\u00ednguez, who played 11 games in the Dominican Winter League and now will have another proving ground this spring to show how much progress he has actually made. <\/p>\n
He is coming off a season in which he had 429 big league plate appearances (hitting .257 with a .719 OPS and 23 steals), but will have to fight for every one he gets in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is we have two guys [Dom\u00ednguez and Jones] that we think are very capable of being really good major league players,\u201d said Boone, who added he might get Dom\u00ednguez some work in center field as well. \u201cIn Jasson\u2019s case, he\u2019s already proven that to some degree. So this spring\u2019s important for them to get regular playing time and continue to hone their craft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spencer Jones looks to make a catch during the Yankees\u2019 spring training workout Feb. 15. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
Jones, who will turn 25 in May, put himself on the doorstep of the big leagues with a strong season last year, finishing it at Triple-A. <\/p>\n
The center fielder will likely be headed back there to start 2026, barring a surprise, but has the chance to make even more noise this spring while waiting for his shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my mind, this is the best organization to play for,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIf the opportunities come later, I think it\u2019s for good reason in that we\u2019re trying to help the team win the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Jasson Dom\u00ednguez has heard the talk. A year ago, he arrived at spring training with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,3289,101,4,1690,61,62,2548,4203,185,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-574941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-jasson-dominguez","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-new-york-yankees","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkmets","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-spring-training"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116078098846865725","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574941","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=574941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}