DETROIT — The Yankees got a taste of what Jasson Dominguez, and to a lesser extent Austin Wells, were capable of this spring.
Now they’re about to find out how that potential and talent plays in the big leagues.
It will only be for a September in which the Yankees are all but out of the playoff race, but Dominguez and Wells will be called up Friday for a series in Houston that starts the next wave of the club’s youth movement.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Aaron Judge said Thursday at Comerica Park before the Yankees fell to the Tigers, 4-3 in 10 innings. “I’m excited for both those guys. Getting a chance to meet Austin a little bit and talk with him has been great. Same with Dominguez. He was pretty quiet when he was in spring training, but I think we’ll be able to open him up a little bit once he gets up here.”
If both Dominguez and Wells are in the lineup Friday, their first test will be none other than future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander.
Less than two weeks ago, the 20-year-old Dominguez was getting promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after spending most of the season at Double-A Somerset.
But with the Yankees falling further out of playoff contention and Dominguez quickly bursting onto the scene at Triple-A — hitting .419 with a 1.094 OPS in 37 plate appearances — the much-hyped prospect will make his major league debut sooner than expected.
Six months ago, Dominguez left the Yankees with a strong impression in his first big-league camp.
He put together consistent at-bats while flashing the advanced plate discipline he is known for.
“He showed everything this spring that you got to see why people are excited about him,” manager Aaron Boone said. “You get to see the raw tools. He’s a young player that will obviously come with a lot of expectation, a lot of probably unfair expectations. But you certainly see the reason why a lot of us think he’s got a chance to be a really good player.
Dominguez is expected to see time in center field, though the Yankees also began introducing him to the corners this season. But it is his work at the plate that will draw the most eyeballs.
“He has all the physical and raw tools you need, coupled with the DNA to control the strike zone,” Boone said. “Now it’s a matter of: Can you take that to the highest level in the land and do it consistently there? That’s what we’ll start to see.”
Wells, 24, was also in big-league camp with the Yankees, though he was set back by a fractured rib.
But his best friend in the Yankees’ clubhouse knows what he is capable of.
“He brings a lot,” Anthony Volpe said. “From playing with him, how everybody feeds off his energy and how positive everything is. I feel like he has a really good personality, a really infectious personality. Just being able to get up here for the rest of the season and just settle in, I feel like will be huge for this year and then going forward.”
Volpe talked with Wells on the phone Wednesday after he got news of the call-up.
Though Wells had plenty of questions, including what he needed to wear, Volpe was happy to answer them.
”He’s super, super excited,” Volpe said. “It’s just amazing. He earned it.”
It remains to be seen how the Yankees will use Wells, especially since his promotion as a catcher comes with the added challenge of having to learn a pitching staff.
Though there have been questions about Wells’ future behind the plate, the Yankees plan on keeping him there at least in the short term.
“Because we feel like he continues to make strides behind the plate, we put a premium on his development as a catcher,” Boone said. “Even though he was hurt in spring training, he was with us and I think knows a lot of these guys. He’s got a really good presence to him. We’ll try to acclimate him as best we can.
“But it’s certainly a challenge anytime you come in as a catcher and have to really get to know and [be] in the trenches with pitchers. We’ll do the best we can to acclimate him quickly. Feel like he has the presence and the brains to handle it.”