Since a blistering begin to the season, highlighted by a 21-7 exhibiting in Could, the Yankees have performed at a sub-.500 tempo, recording a 40-41 file courting again to the start of June. They’re 1-3 for the reason that 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 recreation, however the Yankees’ different outfield spot has been a weak level within the lineup for a lot of the season. Prime prospect Jasson Dominguez is wholesome and awaiting an enormous league alternative as he rips by Triple-A pitching, however the Yankees have up to now caught with struggling veteran Alex Verdugo — a lot to the chagrin of the fan base.
Common supervisor Brian Cashman addressed the topic Friday, telling reporters that if Dominguez had been to be known as as much as the majors, he’d want common at-bats the workforce doesn’t at the moment consider to be out there (by way of the New York Submit’s Greg Joyce). Cashman recommended that Dominguez is “doing the whole lot he must” in Triple-A in the mean time but additionally pointed to latest enchancment in Verdugo’s outcomes.
“The evaluations that we’re having with our subject workers and participant improvement workers, entrance workplace workers, is simply what will give us the very best likelihood to win,” mentioned Cashman. “As of proper now, we’re staying pat with what we’ve acquired.”
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 acquired 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 Could 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 luxurious of even making a troublesome determination. Dominguez spent the early portion of the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgical procedure carried out final September. He was in a position to start a rehab task in Could and was optioned in June when that rehab window ended. At that time, Verdugo’s struggles hadn’t continued for much longer than a month. Choose and Soto had been wholesome and producing. There wasn’t a clear-cut path to an on a regular basis function. 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 obtained all of 1 recreation within the massive leagues — a fast look because the twenty seventh man on this yr’s Little League Basic, 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’ high 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 hanging out in a few quarter of his minor league plate appearances final yr, he’s reduce that fee 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 house 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 had been known as to the majors immediately. 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. Nonetheless, as J.J. Cooper and Matt Eddy of Baseball America not too long ago highlighted, Dominguez wouldn’t even be eligible to internet the Yankees a draft decide beneath 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 foremost league injured record because of the aforementioned Tommy John surgical procedure.
The Submit’s Jon Heyman reported Thursday 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 workforce’s decision-makers, per the report, with a number of Yankees execs strongly advocating for Dominguez’s promotion. Nonetheless, each Cashman and supervisor Aaron Boone place confidence in Verdugo’s skills, Heyman writes.
On the one hand, the Yankees are a lock to succeed in the postseason whether or not they’re taking part in Verdugo or Dominguez each 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, for 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.
