The Martian was worth the wait.
After years of hype as a prospect, Jasson Dominguez debuted with the Yankees on Friday and immediately proved why he is such a touted prospect by blasting two home runs over a three-game sweep of the Astros as fans got a tantalizing glimpse of the future.
But how did Dominguez, the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect and MLB’s No. 76 prospect, get labeled “The Martian?”
The moniker started long ago.
When Dominguez began crushing baseballs in the Dominican Republic as a teenager, he quickly attracted the eyes of major-league scouts, who saw a bulked-up, fast, switch-hitting center fielder with the kind of power and skillset that didn’t seem like it came from a mere mortal.
Thus, “someone” called him El Marciano, which is Spanish for The Martian, and the nickname stuck “because there was no way he was from this world,” according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
When the Yankees signed the then-16-years-old Dominguez for a franchise-record $5.1 million in July 2019, the victory laps started immediately.
Dominguez has long attracted comparisons to vaunted names like Mickey Mantle and Bo Jackson, and scouts have been enamored with his potential since he was first spotted.
“It’s very rare to see that combination,” Yankees director of amateur scouting Donny Rowland recently told The Post. “You look at tools, athleticism, makeup, performance as an amateur — and the analytical data backed up everything. He checked every box.”
Though questions remained about Dominguez’s major-league potential following an initially disappointing first foray into the minors, he began squashing concerns with a dominant 2022.
After starting 2023 in Double-A, where he hit 15 homers and stole 37 bases with a .781 OPS, Dominguez began to explode upon his promotion to Triple-A.
He hit for a 1.094 OPS in nine games in Scranton while walking more than he struck out, and the Yankees — now wholly focused on next season — rewarded him with a promotion.
With the two home runs this weekend, Dominguez became the fourth Yankee in franchise history to hit two home runs in his first three career games, joining Aaron Judge, Yogi Berra and Joe Lefebvre.
If Dominguez’s first stint in the big leagues is any indication, The Martian is going to be making Yankees fans happy for quite a while.