Yankees' Future Star Sidelined Indefinitely with 'Significant' Injury

One of the Yankees' brightest young players suffered a drastic setback in his rehab.

Sep 8, 2023; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Jasson Dominguez (89) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports | Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

"The Martian" has unfortunately crash-landed.

Jasson Dominguez, the New York Yankees' top prospect, will be out for at least two months, according to team manager Aaron Boone. Dominguez has an oblique strain that was initially described as "moderate", but Boone has since upgraded the strain to "significant".

"[The timetable on Dominguez] is going to be up to eight weeks," Boone said to reporters on Thursday. "So it's a pretty significant strain, and it'll be roughly eight weeks before he starts playing in games."

Jasson Dominguez's oblique strain is "pretty significant" and he will miss "up to 8 weeks," per Aaron Boone pic.twitter.com/uRlK75c8bP

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 20, 2024

Even though Dominguez didn't have room on the current roster with Alex Verdugo, Aaron Judge, and Juan Soto playing so well, this is the worst-case scenario for the 21-year-old prodigy; an eight-week period of no activity roughly translates to a return in mid-August, and this doesn't even get into the build-up that Dominguez would need to return to full strength. Oblique injuries are very difficult to treat as well, so it's looking like he may not play in the Bronx this season.

Dominguez was already recovering from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in September 2023. In the 23 minor-league games he's played so far this year, the budding star hit an incredible .356/.404/.609 with ten extra-base hits, including six home runs across Single-A Tampa, Double-A Somerset, and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Last season, the switch-hitting phenom hit four home runs in just eight games at the major league level, logging a .677 slugging percentage, a 162 wRC+, and 0.3 fWAR in that very limited stint.

Yankee fans have been anxious for Dominguez's return to MLB ever with the crowded outfield, but he now needs to recover by September 22, which is the RailRiders' last game of the year. If Dominguez isn't ready by then, his season will be over.