ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jasson Dominguez just got to Triple-A, but it does not seem out of the question that he could arrive in The Bronx at some point during the final month of the season.
With the Yankees recently putting a greater emphasis on their future thanks to their brutally disappointing season — they started four players on Sunday who are 24 years old or younger — Dominguez could be a candidate for a September call-up.
“I’m in the camp that I think he’s going to be a really good player in this league,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think he’s a really special talent. … Obviously he impacts the ball and is athletic and can run, but I like the fact that at a very young age, he can really control the strike zone.
“Hopefully that’s something that when he does get up here, it will really be something that serves him well.”
The 20-year-old is 11-for-23 with 10 RBIs, four walks and one strikeout through his first seven games at Triple-A.
Dominguez is not yet on the 40-man roster, but the Yankees will have to add him this offseason, anyway, to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, which could work in his favor to potentially make his MLB debut next month.
Aaron Judge arrived at Tropicana Field on fire, but left having been cooled off by the Rays.
After hitting four home runs in his previous two games before Friday, Judge went 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts and a walk as the Yankees dropped another series to the Rays.
“He was probably a little bit in and out of the zone, is all,” Boone said. “He came in really hot. Usually he fixes things pretty quick. He keeps those windows where he has a couple tough games pretty short.”
Judge was far from the only Yankee to have a quiet series, but because the reigning AL MVP has often been able to put the team on his back, it was noticeable.
“He’s one of, if not the best player in baseball,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “To be able to make a lot of good pitches to him, that helped us win the series.”
Another top prospect, center fielder Spencer Jones, was promoted to Double-A Somerset on Sunday after spending the first 100 games of his season at High-A Hudson Valley.
The 22-year-old Jones, ranked the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect by MLB.com, hit .268 with a .787 OPS, 13 home runs and 35 steals at High-A while striking out 133 times in 459 plate appearances.
“Organizationally, I think we’re really excited about his future,” Boone said. “It’s been a good first full year for him. Now hopefully as he climbs, he can finish off his season strong. But I think it’s been a successful year for him.”
Jones was the Yankees’ first-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2022.
George Rose, the Yankees’ executive adviser of Pacific Rim Operations and former interpreter for Hideki Irabu, died Sunday at the age of 57.