Friday night was a culmination of sorts for Jasson Dominguez, and New York Yankees fans who have followed him since he was a teenager drawing comparisons to Mike Trout and Mickey Mantle before ever appearing in a professional game. That was always too high a bar for any prospect to clear, but The Martian looked pretty Mantle-like in the Yankees' 10-2 rout of the A's: three homers in all, two from the right side of the plate and one from the left, capped by his first career grand slam.
For a player of whom so much has been expected at such a young age, breaking out like that had to feel good. But it also could have serious ramifications on how the rest of this season plays out for New York. Because in reality, the doubts about whether Dominguez would ever really live up to his considerable hype weren't just coming from the outside; they were coming from his own manager, and hopefully now those doubts have been put to rest.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Jasson Dominguez makes case for playing time loud and clear with three-homer game
A major source of tension among Yankees fans early this season has been Dominguez's playing time, specifically the lack of it. This was partly just a numbers game: With Trent Grisham continuing to rake and Cody Bellinger finally showing signs of life, the outfield was getting awfully crowded, and Ben Rice's strong start has made him a must at DH. That didn't leave a ton of room for Dominguez to start every day.
Still, it wasn't a great look for New York to let their No. 1 prospect languish on the bench, especially considering how important reps both in left field and at the plate would be for a player who just turned 22 in February and has plenty of growing still to do. The Yankees' roster crunch isn't going to solve itself, but Dominguez is making clear that the team can't afford to sit him on a regular basis — not just for the long haul, but because he can help them win right now.
Maybe that means Bellinger needs to have a slightly smaller role, at least as long as Grisham remains one of the team's best hitters not named Aaron Judge. Maybe that means getting creative with Rice's role, either at catcher or somewhere in the infield. Regardless, it's clear that New York has an above-average hitter on its hands on already, one who still has the potential to grow into an All-Star if he can smooth out some of the kinks in his game. That's not the sort of player you want to leave on the bench.