Since a blistering begin to the season, highlighted by a 21-7 exhibiting in Might, the Yankees have performed at a sub-.500 tempo, recording a 40-41 file relationship again to the start of June. They’re 1-3 because the calendar flipped to September and have dropped seven of their previous 11 video games. A lineup anchored by Aaron Choose and Juan Soto has remained among the many extra productive items within the sport, however the Yankees’ different outfield spot has been a weak level within the lineup for a lot of the season. High prospect Jasson Dominguez is wholesome and awaiting an enormous league alternative as he rips by Triple-A pitching, however the Yankees have to this point caught with struggling veteran Alex Verdugo — a lot to the chagrin of the fan base.
Common supervisor Brian Cashman addressed the topic right now, telling reporters that if Dominguez have been to be referred to as as much as the majors, he’d want common at-bats the staff doesn’t at present consider to be out there (hyperlink by way of the New York Put up’s Greg Joyce). Cashman prompt that Dominguez is “doing the whole lot he must” in Triple-A in the mean time but in addition pointed to latest enchancment in Verdugo’s outcomes.
“The evaluations that we’re having with our discipline workers and participant improvement workers, entrance workplace workers, is simply what will give us one of the best likelihood to win,” mentioned Cashman. “As of proper now, we’re staying pat with what we’ve obtained.”
It’s a frankly vexing stance for the GM to take, given the speed at which Verdugo has produced (or slightly failed to take action) for the majority of the season. Coming over in an offseason commerce with the archrival Pink Sox, Verdugo obtained out to a pleasant begin in his Yankees tenure, hitting .267/.358/.446 by the tip of April. Had he continued at or near that tempo, it’d be comprehensible and many defensible to say that the veteran Verdugo can’t merely be pushed apart. That hasn’t been the case. Courting again to Might 1, Verdugo has posted an anemic .227/.276/.337 batting line. That’s 28% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+ (72).
For a lot of that point, the Yankees didn’t have the posh of even making a tricky choice. Dominguez spent the early portion of the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgical procedure carried out final September. He was capable of start a rehab task in Might and was optioned in June when that rehab window ended. At that time, Verdugo’s struggles hadn’t endured for much longer than a month. Choose and Soto have been wholesome and producing. There wasn’t a clear-cut path to an on a regular basis position. Dominguez wound up struggling a reasonably extreme indirect pressure in Triple-A — one which value him greater than six weeks of motion.
Dominguez returned to motion in late July, and since then has acquired all of 1 sport within the huge leagues — a fast look because the twenty seventh man on this yr’s Little League Traditional, after which he was returned to Triple-A. Requires the Yankees to swap out the veteran Verdugo have since mounted, and Dominguez’s torrid play with the Yankees’ prime affiliate isn’t going to quell them anytime quickly.
In 41 Triple-A video games this season, Dominguez is sporting a hefty .313/.371/.497 batting line — 25% higher than common within the Triple-A Worldwide League. After putting out in a few quarter of his minor league plate appearances final yr, he’s lower that charge to 18.5% in Triple-A this season. Dominguez has been on a very potent heater over his previous 20 video games, slashing .375/.438/.613 with 5 residence runs. Verdugo has turned in a .225/.260/.296 slash in that very same time.
There’s no actual service time gamesmanship at play right here. Dominguez wouldn’t attain a full yr of service time in 2024 even when he have been referred to as to the majors right now. He’d additionally retain his rookie eligibility into the 2025 season so long as he spent fewer than 34 days on the energetic roster and collected fewer than 95 at-bats between now and the tip of the common season. Nevertheless, as J.J. Cooper and Matt Eddy of Baseball America highlighted not too long ago, Dominguez wouldn’t even be eligible to web the Yankees a draft choose below the CBA’s prospect promotion incentives, as one of many necessities for the PPI eligibility is having fewer than 60 days of MLB service. Dominguez already surpassed that complete whereas on the most important league injured listing because of the aforementioned Tommy John surgical procedure.
The Put up’s Jon Heyman reported final night time that there was a “spirited” debate amongst Yankees decision-makers on whether or not to name Dominguez to the majors this month and swap him into the lineup for Verdugo. The choice to maintain Dominguez within the minors is hardly unanimous among the many staff’s decision-makers, per the report, with a number of Yankees execs strongly advocating for Dominguez’s promotion. Nevertheless, each Cashman and supervisor Aaron Boone place confidence in Verdugo’s skills, Heyman writes.
On the one hand, the Yankees are a lock to achieve the postseason whether or not they’re taking part in Verdugo or Dominguez day by day. At 80-60, they’re tied with the Guardians for the fifth-best file in MLB. On the opposite, New York’s latest slide has additionally dropped them a half-game behind the Orioles for the division lead.
It’s debatable whether or not Dominguez would’ve shifted the Yankees’ fortune in any of their latest losses — he alone isn’t prone to have flipped the script in a four-run loss to Texas or a seven-run loss to St. Louis, as an example — however there’s no denying that the potential distinction between Dominguez and Verdugo over the ultimate three-plus weeks might show pivotal in closing that half-game hole within the standings. That could possibly be the distinction between a Wild Card berth or a division-winning, first-round bye for the Yankees.