Could Yankees' Surging Top Prospect Force His Way Into Major Leagues This Season?

One of the New York Yankees' future stars is going wild.

Center fielder Jasson Dominguez, who is the highest-ranked prospect in the Yankees' farm system, has dominated at the plate since his recovery from Tommy John surgery. In 19 minor league games across Single-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, the Martian is hitting .380/.429/.690 for a 1.119 OPS, with 27 hits, six home runs, and 12 RBI. Starting off his rehab as a DH, Dominguez is now playing in center field as well.

Dominguez's performance with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, however, has been the most impressive of all. He already dominated at that level in 2023, putting up a 1.095 OPS in nine games to earn a quick (and successful) call-up to the big leagues. Since his return to the RailRiders, the 21-year-old is on another warpath, hitting .500 with a .950 slugging percentage; he has ten hits in just five games, with half of them going for extra bases (three doubles and two home runs).

Four of the Martian's hits came in a 12-11 extra-innings win for the RailRiders over the Norfolk Tides, a team that features MLB's Number 1 prospect in Jackson Holliday. Playing nine innings in center field, Dominguez went 4-for-5 with a home run, a stolen base, and two runs scored. The home run he hit had a 110 mph exit velocity and traveled 429 feet. Ironically, the game-winning run would be driven in by Dominguez's defensive replacement, Taylor Trammell, who took over in the tenth inning and hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in his first at-bat of the game.

Jasson Domínguez, yet again!

The @Yankees' No. 1 prospect belts his 6th homer in 19 @MiLB games this year, collecting his third hit of the game for the @swbrailriders.

109.8 mph | 429 feet pic.twitter.com/25Wqq9hUgj
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 9, 2024

Judging from these numbers and the success he saw in his brief time in the majors in 2023, it's clear that Dominguez is MLB ready. However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone says that the team doesn't want to rush him back to the big leagues, and only plan to call him up when he has an opportunity as a starter.

"When he comes up, he's going to play," Boone said. "That avenue has got to be there."

That opportunity is currently not available for Dominguez, as the Yankees have possibly the best outfield in baseball in Alex Verdugo, Aaron Judge, and Juan Soto; the three have combined for 10.5 fWAR while collectively providing elite bat-to-ball skills, power, and defense. Although backup outfielder Trent Grisham has only five hits in 50 sporadic at-bats, he is the primary defensive outfield replacement on the team, and even had a day in the limelight on Sunday with a game-winning home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But while the Yankees have a very crowded outfield, Dominguez is a five-tool player with youth on his side. With the way he's been playing in the minors, the next step in his development is to give him major league experience; the crowded outfield may make that difficult, but it's the next step towards transforming him into the superstar center fielder of the future.