When the New York Yankees paid a franchise-record $5.1 million bonus to sign then 16-year-old Jasson Domínguez out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, scouts described him as “an elite level athlete” with “elite baseball tools.” The teenager with the odd nickname “The Martian,” supposedly due to his “otherworldly” talent on the diamond, was “the kind of player who makes the hair on your arm stand up.” Since Dominguez has been given his shot at the major leagues, however, it may be the hair on Yankee fans’ heads that stands up – out of sheer fright. Not due to the rookie’s batting prowess, which remains mostly unquestioned, but due to his defense in left field.
The numbers bear out those fears. According to Fangraphs Defensive Runs Saved metric, in just 13 big league games spread over 2023 and 2024, Dominguez is already responsible for allowing four more runs than an average outfielder. If he were to play 162 games – that is, every game in a full season – Dominguez would have been responsible for 49.8 extra runs, at rate he is going. Measured by the Fangraphs defensive runs saved metric, the all-time worst outfielder was Jermaine Dye, who played 1,763 games from 1996 to 2009. Over his career Dye was responsible for allowing 65 more runs than average. On a per-162 game basis, Dye allowed 5.97 extra runs.
While the sample size for Dominguez is obviously small, an outfield defensive performance more than eight times worse than the worst ever recorded is not a good sign, to say the least. The now-22-year-old, on whom the Yankees are counting to hold down left field this season, has seen his struggles continue into spring training. He dropped a fly ball to turn an out into a double for Philadelphia Phillies hitter Edmundo Sosa in a Thursday game that ended in a 7-7 tie.
“It wasn’t his first mistake of the preseason, either,” wrote Alexander Wilson of Empire Sports Media on Friday. “He’s already lost a ball in the sun and misjudged a double into the gap, moments that highlight just how raw his outfield play still is.” It was that type of outfield play that on Thursday prompted Boston-area sports television personality and podcaster Jared Carrabis to take to his X (formerly Twitter) account to describe Dominguez as “a horrendous defender. Maybe the worst of all-time.”
It was not just Boston bias from Carrabis. One Yankee fan online described himself as “scared” to see Dominguez in left field, while another wrote, “Definitely worried about Jasson’s defense in left. He just doesn’t look comfortable out there. Yikes!” New York sports talk host Keith McPherson of WFAN radio also expressed deep concern over Dominguez’s defense, in a Friday broadcast. “This is the time to have the conversation and maybe have some alternatives. The whole baseball world just mocked the Yankees for their defense,” McPherson said. “Why throw this young man into left field if he’s not prepared?”
One obvious, if short-term, answer would be to simply move Dominguez to the designated hitter role, as long as regular DH Giancarlo Stanton remains injured and unable to play. But Jason Burgos of Sportsnaut on Saturday suggested a “win-win” trade scenario that would send starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to the Mets for outfielder Starling Marte. The problem with that scenario is that Stroman, previously considered expendable, now appears headed back into the Yankees starting rotation after all, thanks to an injury to last year’s Rookie of the Year Luis Gil.
