Jasson Dominguez injury update puts Yankees between rock and a hard place

The New York Yankees have had as great a start to the season as you could have asked. The team sits in first place in the American League East division and was the first to reach 50 wins this season. But that's not without some injury scares surrounding their star players.

Juan Soto exited a game against the Minnesota Twins due to a forearm injury. While fans were fearing the worst, the injury was minor, and Soto missed just three games. Then, this past week, Aaron Judge was hit on the hand on a pitch thrown by Albert Suarez of the Baltimore Orioles. Luckily, Judge's hand wasn't broken, only bruised, and is scheduled to return for Thursday's series finale.

While the Yankees lucked out with these injuries to Soto and Judge, they can't afford to deal with another ailment. That's because their outfield depth in the minors took a massive hit, especially after an update on Jasson Dominguez.

Before Thursday's game against the Orioles, Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed that Dominguez is dealing with a "significant oblique strain," and will be sidelined for about eight weeks. That's right, Dominguez will be out for two months.

Jasson Dominguez out for eight weeks due to 'significant oblique strain'

This is not great news for the Yankees, considering Dominguez played well in his brief call-up last season before undergoing Tommy John surgery. While Dominguez's path to the Yankees outfield was blocked by the presences of Soto and Alex Verdugo, he would have been the top replacement option if anyone were to hit the injured list. Now, for eight weeks, Dominguez is not an option.

But what about other options for the Yankees at the Triple-A level? Well, Everson Pereira can already be ruled out, as he had undergone Tommy John surgery, and is effectively out for the season. Also hurt is Greg Allen, who was placed on the seven-day injured list on June 16 with an unspecified injury.

So what are the immediate options for the Yankees? As Brendan Kuty of The Athletic points out, the only realistic players to receive a call-up would be Oscar Gonzalez, Taylor Trammell, and Brandon Lockridge.

The Yankees' second-overall prospect is Spencer Jones, their 2022 first-round pick. However, Jones is currently playing in Double-A and is probably not expected to make his major league debut until 2025.

Dominguez had long been deemed the next superstar outfielder, not just on the Yankees, but in the majors. Yankees fans caught an eight-game glimpse of Dominguez last season, where he went 8-for-31 with two doubles, four home runs, six runs, and seven RBI.

For the Yankees and Boone, they will have to hope that neither Judge, Soto, or Verdugo get sidelined again this season because the outfield depth at Triple-A has been hit hard with this latest Dominguez update.