Jasson Dominguez is headed to the 10-day injured list after suffering what Yankees manager Aaron Boone called a ‘low-grade’ sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder on Thursday.
Dominguez was injured making a great catch against the wall on the first defensive play of the 9-2 win over the Rangers, crashing neck and shoulder first into the fence on Brandon Nimmo’s fly out before collapsing to the warning track, staying down for a few minutes as trainers, Boone, and his teammates gathered around before The Martian was taken off the field on a golf cart.
“It was a ball that didn’t have much hang time, so he didn’t have much time to read the wall, and it’s an unfortunate situation,” Cody Bellinger, who moved from right field to left after Dominguez left the game, said afterwards. “He hit the wall really hard, and I’m hoping for the best for him.”
Boone said concussion tests as of the end of the game were negative, but an MRI taken at New York-Presbyterian Hospital revealed the shoulder sprain.
“I knew he smoked it hard; he seemed coherent and all when we got out there, but obviously you know he hit the wall pretty hard, so what does that mean?” Boone said in his post-game presser. “That’s one of the unfortunate parts of the game; amazing catch, obviously, and he hit the wall pretty hard. Hopefully, we’re in a good space head-wise, and this is something that doesn’t keep him out too long, but it could be a few weeks. We’ll see how he heals up here.”
And as for the team rallying around Dominguez as he lay hurt in the outfield?
“He’s just such a good kid, and there’s a joy he kind of walks to every day, no matter what’s going on. He’s very consistent in who he is, and they love him in there,” Boone said. “We’ve talked a lot recently about just how well he’s handled his situation here the last four or five months, but seeing the way he handled Spring Training going in and the numbers game not working out for him, then going down and playing well in Triple-A and earning his way back here, and contributing…it’s kind of neat when good people are rewarded like that.”
The Yankees will make a move to get another position player ahead of Friday’s series opener in Milwaukee, and Boone said “we’ll see, we’ll talk about all that now” when asked who it might be after the game.
The Yankees have Spencer Jones, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Anthony Volpe on the 40-man roster, as well a Triple-A outfield full of MLB-experienced outfielders who aren’t – but as Jack Curry posited on YES’ Postgame Show, could now be the time for the Yankees to see what they have in Jones, who could get a couple of weeks or more of regular at-bats with Dominguez out and Giancarlo Stanton still a bit off from a return?
“Spencer’s playing really well and on the (40-man) roster, and we’ll figure out what’s the best way,” Boone said. “He’s been good, and especially, got off to an okay start and hit a little snag for a week or so, and I feel like the last three or four weeks, he’s had consistent at-bats; the power has been there and less swing and miss, and that’s what we were seeing in Spring Training. He’s cleaned that up, so he’s put himself in the mix. Doesn’t mean that’s the way we’ll go, but the signs have been encouraging.”
Added Bellinger of Jones: “That’s a large man who hits the ball very fat! Freak athlete; very athletic, moves well, good baseball player.”
