This Sunday, September 1, MLB will expand rosters from 26 to 28 players and for the New York Yankees that will mean making an important decision.
Because everyone hopes that this will be the moment when we see their number 1 prospect, Dominican Jasson Dominguez, return to the Major Leagues.
Manager Aaron Boone has declined to say whether Dominguez will be called up to the big leagues.I don’t know. We’ll see.“he told reporters Friday at Yankee Stadium.We haven’t made that decision, so I don’t know.”.
But all indications are that the 21-year-old will be one of those promoted and that will also mean that one of the starting outfielders will miss significant playing time.
Dominguez spent much of this season injured. First he was recovering from elbow surgery he had a year ago, and then he injured his oblique. He struggled to get into a rhythm with his offense, and with Triple-A Scranton he has slash lines of .301/.355/.448, OPS of .802, 4 homers, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 17 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 36 games. He had a brief stint in MLB a couple of weeks ago, and went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts.
However, the fans are calling for his promotion and that could impact Alex Verdugo. The starting positions of captain Aaron Judge and Dominican star Juan Soto are not threatened by anything, but with Verdugo it is another matter because he has been in debt with his offense.
On Friday against St. Louis, the outfielder saw a five-game streak of hitting at least one hit snapped. That streak had led to the belief that he was on the way to recovery and could be key in the decisive stretch, but there are still many doubts. His .232 average, .651 OPS, 11 home runs, 27 doubles and 54 RBIs do not offer many guarantees.
Manager Brian Cashman’s comments on Dominguez’s work in left field confirmed what was widely thought: that the prospect will take Verdugo’s place and that the relief effort can begin right now.
