Prized prospect Jasson Dominguez turns into youngest Yankees participant to homer in 1st huge league at-bat

HOUSTON — New York Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone vividly remembers the poise and confidence a 16-year-old Jasson Domínguez displayed when he watched him take batting observe on the group’s academy within the Dominican Republic in 2019.

“Right then he got your attention,” Boone stated. “It was like, it’s a 16-year-old kid (and) you see the skill set right in front of you. He had that kind of easy smile to him, handles himself really well.”

Domínguez wowed everybody Friday night time, hitting a two-run homer off Houston ace Justin Verlander in his first main league at-bat.

At simply 20 years, 206 days previous, Domínguez grew to become the youngest Yankees participant to homer in his first profession sport. He was the primary Yankees participant to go deep in his preliminary huge league at-bat since Aaron Judge on Aug. 13, 2016.

After Domínguez swatted his opposite-field residence run to the brief porch in left off a three-time Cy Young Award winner twice his age, TV cameras panned to his household, who screamed and jumped round after watching the ball go away the yard for a 3-0 lead within the first inning.

Four years after Boone noticed him taking batting observe as a teen, the extremely touted prospect was an enormous hit in his huge league debut. The switch-hitting outfielder and one other promising teen, catcher Austin Wells, have been known as up from the minors by the last-place Yankees when rosters expanded Friday.

“Everyone’s excited for them and excited to see them,” Boone stated earlier than the sport. “Both (are) talented guys who earned this opportunity, and looking forward to watching them go spread their wings and continue to develop and hopefully see some good things.”

Domínguez is predicted to be the group’s on a regular basis middle fielder after Harrison Bader was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds, and Boone stated Wells can even play lots over the past month of the season. They have been each within the beginning lineup Friday night time, with Domínguez batting fifth and Wells seventh.

“When I heard the news, it was a special moment,” Domínguez stated in Spanish via a translator. “Just to be here, very excited. Happy to be right here today, and it’s a special day.”

Wells is regarded extra for his bat than his protection, however he’s hoping to indicate he could be a precious contributor in each areas within the majors.

“I’m here to do that as well and play and help the team win,” he stated. “So, that’s my goal and if I can do it in any way, I’ll do it any way.”

Expectations have been excessive for Domínguez since he obtained a $5.1 million bonus when he signed with the Yankees. His distinctive mixture of power and pace at such a younger age earned him a catchy nickname: The Martian.

But he stated he doesn’t really feel any added stress due to that.

“I haven’t really been paying too much attention to all that, all the comments and all the information about me,” he stated. “I’m not much on social media. I’m not reading a lot of the different articles that are written. I just try to focus on what I can do and try to play my game and better myself so that I can fulfill whatever expectation there is being the best I can be.”

Domínguez was set to grow to be the youngest participant to look in a sport for the Yankees since 19-year-old pitcher José Rijo in July 1984 – and the youngest place participant since 20-year-old outfielder Stan Javier in April 1984.

Boone is definitely conscious of the expectations folks have for Domínguez and believes he’ll stay as much as them.

“I think he’s going to be a really good player,” Boone stated. “I really do. (He’s) not a finished product. And we’ll see how his journey goes. He’s obviously a very young man, super talented. I think when we look up in several years, we’re going to see a really good player in front of us and he gets to start to write that script, in the big leagues anyway, starting today.”

Domínguez joins the group after enjoying simply 9 video games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. He hit .419 with two doubles and 10 RBIs there after batting .254 with 15 homers and 66 RBIs in 109 video games for Double-A Somerset.

The 24-year-old Wells singled off Verlander in his first plate look. Wells hit .254 with 5 homers and 20 RBIs in 33 video games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was a first-round draft select of Arizona in 2020.

Domínguez had a bunch of family and friends members in Houston for Friday night time’s sport, together with his mom and father and a few aunts and uncles.

He stated he’s all the time dreamed of enjoying within the majors, however he tries to deal with the current quite than fear an excessive amount of in regards to the future.