CHICAGO — For Brian Cashman, the decision sounded simple.
With Jasson Dominguez waiting in the wings at Triple-A, the Yankees are sticking with Alex Verdugo in left field.
“It just comes down to what’s the best to help us win games?” Cashman said Friday at Wrigley Field. “It’s as simple as that.”
And in the Yankees’ view, that means Verdugo.
“I think he’s playing good baseball right now,” Cashman said. “He’s playing much better than he had been. It just comes down to, is that the best route to go? That’s how we’ve got it set up currently.”
Cashman said that Verdugo’s experience — as opposed to throwing a rookie into the middle of a playoff race — does not factor into the decision.
After being one of the worst qualified hitters in the big leagues from mid-June to mid-August, Verdugo has started to get more results of late.
He entered Friday batting 14-for-41 (.341) with a .796 OPS over his last 11 games.
Verdugo has provided mostly strong defense in left field, though Cashman said he thinks Dominguez — a natural center fielder — is a good defender too.
Cashman said Dominguez, who has missed time this year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and then with a strained oblique, continues to be in the conversation.
But the GM reiterated that if the Yankees are going to call the top prospect up, he needs to be playing every day.
“Jasson is doing everything he needs to do right now and Verdugo is playing better baseball recently,” Cashman said. “The evaluations that we’re having with our field staff and player development staff, front office staff, is just what is going to give us the best chance to win. As of right now, we’re staying pat with what we’ve got.
“But we’re always in a position to change our minds at some point too.”