New York Yankees outfield candidate Jasson Dominguez delivered his fourth home run of spring practice Saturday, starting a 384-foot streak from Philadelphia Phillies-Relief Connor Brogdon. According to Statcast, Dominguez’s homer sent the bat flying at 107.6 mph. Just look:
Dominguez, 20 in February, entered the plate on Saturday with .438/.526/1.000 in 19 rides. Predictably, he’s enjoying his first spring in the big league camp.
“It was hard to have an expectation because I had no idea what it was going to be like or what to expect from it.” Dominguez told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “But being here now, man, it’s been great. A great experience. Very happy to be here.”
Dominguez split into three levels last season, hitting .273/.376/.461 with 16 homers in 120 games. He finished the year at Double-A despite only appearing in five regular-season competitions. Yankees manager Aaron Boone pointed this out Saturday when asked about the odds Dominguez could bring himself into the mix for the opening day lineup. (Remember, the Yankees are without midfielder Harrison Bader to start the year.)
“We love where he is. Is he early in this mix? That would be difficult,” Boone said during the game on the YES show. “But you never know what could happen in the next few weeks.”
Boone added: “[He] needs to play and evolve. But the track he’s on, especially what we saw last year and especially this spring, he could throw him into the mix sooner rather than later.”
Dominguez was ranked the third best prospect in the Yankees system by CBS Sports. We noted that “probably won’t be the next Mike Trout, but here’s a Premier League player. Possibly a good one.”