Jasson Domínguez provided another glimpse Sunday of what’s tantalized the Yankees since they signed him as an international free agent nearly seven years ago.
The switch-hitting 23-year-old, who’s been unable to prove he’s a full-time major league player, doubled twice and hit his first homer of the season in an 11-3 win over the Orioles.
Starting at DH with Giancarlo Stanton on the IL with a calf injury, Domínguez took advantage of his latest opportunity — something he hasn’t always done.
After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Domínguez doubled down the left field line and scored the go-ahead run in what was then a close game in the sixth.
Then came a two-run homer, from the left side, to spark a seven-run inning in the eighth, which Domínguez capped by doubling again from the right side.
The Yankees have been waiting for years for Domínguez to hit consistently from that side of the plate, despite having grown up a right-handed hitter.
“That’s his natural side,” Aaron Boone said. “When you see him hit or take BP, you see it’s not an unnatural move.”
Domínguez has pummeled the ball right-handed in his month at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, but has never produced enough from that side to warrant being an everyday player at the major league level.
With Cody Bellinger in left field and Trent Grisham in center, Domínguez found himself at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre again this season.
There remain not only doubts about hitting righty, but also on defense.
Before the game, Boone said he would look to get Aaron Judge a DH day at some point this week, with Domínguez now serving as the fourth outfielder after losing Randal Grichuk.
Domínguez said his three-hit game Sunday was “awesome” and that he’s been working to get more comfortable hitting right-handed.
He’s been down this road before, having first come up to the Yankees late in 2023.
“Adversity is always tough, but that’s what I’ve got to do,” Domínguez said. “I’ve got to do my job.”
A performance like the one Sunday, he said, “definitely helps.” It was the second time in his career he’s had a hit from both sides of the plate in the same inning.
Domínguez is the only Yankee to do that since Mark Teixeira did it in 2016.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
