Yankees keeping close tabs on Jasson Dominguez’s game and mindset

“He’s 23. I thought of myself when I was 23. How would I have handled it? Jasson’s been a lot more mature than I would have been at that age.”

Dominguez’s stats are good, too. Including an 0-for-4 night in Scranton’s 4-3 win over Rochester on Friday, he’s hitting .306 with three homers, 13 RBIs and an .875 OPS in 22 games. He’s had a good week doubling twice and homering on Monday, delivering an 11th-inning walk-off single on Thursday.

“I know Jasson is off to a great start down there,” left fielder Cody Bellinger said. “He’s a great player, man. I think he’s playing how he expects to play.”

Bellinger also reaches out to Dominguez.

“I hit him up on Instagram here and there,” he said. “I have nothing but positive things to say about Jasson. I love who he is and I love the player he is. He’s very mature. At his age, he has a pretty good understanding of who he is as a player.

“Obviously, you can only control what you can control, and he does a really good job of that. Going back to the minors after being here all last year, it’s not easy at all. For him to go down and continue to play his best brand of baseball, it’s a testament of who he is. We all knew that’s the type of player he is.”

Bellinger’s decision to re-sign with the Yankees in January sealed Dominguez’s fate.

The Yankees went with Aaron Judge in right, Trent Grisham in center and Bellinger in left late last season and in the playoffs, and that’s how they opted to start the season.

Like Rojas, Rosario has been reaching out to Dominguez to make sure his mindset is good.

“We texted about a week ago,” Rosario said. “When I talk with Jasson, we’re not talking about baseball. We talk about life. From keeping in touch with him, I think he’s in a good place.”

Dominguez put up solid offensive numbers last season — he hit .257 with 10 homers, 47 RBIs and 23 steals in 123 games, 102 as a starter — but the switch-hitter batted only .204 from the right side and his defense, while showing some improvement, remained subpar.

The Yankees ended up deciding Dominguez would be better off getting regular at-bats in the minors than playing sparingly as a fourth outfielder. Besides, they preferred starting the season with veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk, a right-handed bat who hits lefties well, on their bench.

The Yankees have been saying Dominguez still can be a big part of their future. A starting outfield spot could open up this year with an injury, or next season if Grisham departs when he becomes a free agent.

“I think he’s going to have a long, outstanding career,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The way he’s been from January on this year tells you all you need to know about Jasson’s character. He’s handled everything great.”

Dominguez still is a work in progress as an outfielder though. He’s already committed three errors this season. He needs to get a lot better.

“I saw a misplay, but I’ve seen a couple good plays, too,” Rojas said. “He’s working really hard with our Triple-A outfield coach Raul Dominguez, who knows him well. Raul’s had him as manager and has been the outfield coach for Jasson in years past. I know Jasson is doing a lot of good things.

“Jasson’s going to be a better player for what he’s going through. He had a pretty good rookie year hitting. He needs to get better defensively and hitting from the right side, but he did a lot of good things.”

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