Yankees get Jasson Dominguez diagnosis after scary crash into wall, Spencer Jones coming up

Dominguez will remain in concussion protocol for several days.

“It sucks,” Bellinger said. “I feel bad for him. I love that kid. I really do. I’ve got nothing but love for the way he handles everything.”

Dominguez, 23, has been hurt a lot since he debuted with the Yankees on Sept. 1, 2023. Living up to his top-prospect hype, he homered in his first at-bat in Houston, facing future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander.

Dominguez looked like a rising star right away hitting four homers in his first eight games before suffering a season-ending right UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery on Sept. 20, 2023. He started playing rehab games the following May, but by June 2024 he was back on the IL for a month with a strained oblique that occurred on a checked swing.

Dominguez’s first full season in the majors came last year, his official rookie campaign. He held his own hitting .257 with 10 homers, 47 RBI and 23 steals in 28 attempts over 123 games, the majority as a starter in left field.

But by late in the season and through the playoffs, Dominguez went from getting regular starts to sitting the bench regularly with the Yankees veteran outfielders and DH healthy.

With the Yankees re-signing left fielder Cody Bellinger as a free agent and retaining center fielder Trent Grisham via qualifier offer in the offseason, Dominguez began the season in Triple-A so that he could get regular at-bats instead of being a fourth outfielder.

He hit .326 with three homers and 15 RBI in 24 Triple-A games before getting a call-up on April 27, a day after DH Giancarlo Stanton was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained calf that occurred Aug. 24

Since rejoining the Yankees, he’s started nine of nine games, seven at DH and two in left field. He hit .200 with one homer and four RBI in 32 plate appearances.

“Gosh, he’s just such a good kid,” Boone said. “There’s a joy he kind of walks to every day, no matter what’s going on. He’s very consistent in who he is. They love him in there.

“We’ve talked a lot recently about just how well he’s handled his situation here over the last four and five months.

“What’s that shirt he wears? Be a Good Person (it reads on the front). He kind of embodies that the way he goes about it every day, no matter what’s going on.

“I think seeing the way he handled spring training going in and the numbers game not working for him, having a good spring, going down to Triple-A, playing well, earning his way back here, into the lineup contributing right away, it’s kind of neat when good people are rewarded like that.”

But now Dominguez is hurt again.

“He hit the wall really hard,” Bellinger said. “I saw him on the ground and I’m just hoping for the best for him.”

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