New York Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez lived up to his nickname of “The Martian” prior to going down with a UCL injury. The 20-year-old switch hitter hit four home runs in seven games, including his first off of future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in Houston.
Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey played 12 seasons in the majors and saw plenty of great players in his day. Casey offered up a comparison for the young Dominguez during his appearance on the Audacy original podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“When he first came up in Houston, I was like ‘Wow, this kid’s going to be special,’” Casey said (17:05 in player above). “His bat speed, just the way he swung the bat.”
Dominguez reminds Casey of another free-swinging slugger who played a big role for an AL East club.
“The (comparison) that I have with him is a young Manny Ramirez,” he said. “The same kind of sometimes you think Manny’s like ‘Hey, what’s he thinking?’ Jasson Dominguez keeps it very simple.
“He’s not fooled a lot at the plate. He’s up there hunting that fastball but he can hit the breaking ball and hit the slider. He’s obviously a switch hitter, too. I knew Manny when he was young; it felt the same way.”
Casey made his major-league debut with Cleveland in the 1997 season. Ramirez was in the midst of his fifth season with the club. The two were then teammates in Boston during Casey’s final year in 2008.
“One of the first things when I first met him was he’s a very soft-spoken kid,” he said. “I thought ‘Wow, reminds me of Manny Ramirez.’”
Dominguez has all the talent in the world and Casey foresees that coming to fruition for the young outfielder.
“The kid’s going to be a special talent. Big-time power. Can run a lot. He’s going to be a great center fielder,” Casey continued. “It’s terrible that he had the UCL but the good thing is he’s 20 years old. He’s going to bounce back from it. He’s not a pitcher. He should be back, hopefully at the latest, at the All-Star break next year.”