The Martian has landed at Double-A, outfielder Jasson Dominguez arriving in Somerset this week as he moves one step closer to possibly patrolling the outfield in the Bronx.
Dominguez’s promotion is, in part, to get some extra games under his belt, as High-A Hudson Valley’s season ended on Sunday, but it’s not like he didn’t earn it – the No. 2 overall prospect in the system hit .306 with six homers, 22 RBI, and 17 steals in 40 High-A games.
“I didn’t do anything different but just felt I hit my stride and played better baseball,” Dominguez said Thursday in a Patriots media session, with the help of interpreter and FCL Yankees manager Sergio Santos. “I was super excited (to be moved up). I didn’t know if it was coming or not, but definitely happy it happened.”
When he was moved up from Class-A Tampa to Hudson Valley, Dominguez’s Tarpons teammates and staff told him by playing a bit of a prank on him – but this time, when the Renegades’ season ended, it was more of just a delayed tell from the Hudson Valley coaching staff.
“They were messing with me at first, telling me I was going to have to go back to the Dominican,” Dominguez said, “but then they told me you’re going to go up and hopefully win a ring with Somerset.”
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Dominguez remembers baseball being a part of his upbringing from the time he could walk, although he has no idea how he got the nickname “The Martian” (spoiler: out-of-this-world talent?). However, he’s had high expectations and felt the pressure, so to speak, for a long time, and knows all eyes will be on him now that he’s moved up to Double-A.
“I’ve had high expectations for a long time and always heard it but don’t pay attention. I just focus on what I can control, and that’s getting better every day,” Dominguez said. “I know I’m now a step closer to the Majors, but I’m not going to do anything different or change anything because of it.”
He did note that it is “exciting” to have earned the comparisons he’s gotten in his young career, but he doesn’t want to be the next so-and-so.
“It’s nice but I don’t focus on it because I want to be Jasson Dominguez and play my best baseball,” he said. “It’s exciting to be mentioned among those greats, but I just go out and play baseball.”
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Dominguez’s main goal is to continue to improve, although he cited pitch recognition – and swinging at better pitches, good pitches in the zone – as a catalyst for his quick rise from Low-A to Double-A this year.
He hopes to continue that in Double-A, where he’s likely to begin 2023, and will certainly get there at some point if not – and it’s nice to get his feet wet a little at that level now.
“This will definitely help me out for next year, so nothing is really new when I come back,” he said. “Plus I have family nearby, so that helps.”
And if he wins a title with Somerset, that’ll be icing on the cake, but he’s ready for that playoff intensity no matter what happens.
“Last year I played in the playoffs with Tampa, and I love those moments,” he said. “I look forward to it here.”
Somerset won the Eastern League Northeast Division first-half title, so after they finish their final series of the season with Portland on Sunday, they will again play the second-half champion Sea Dogs, the Red Sox Double-A affiliate, in the Division Series beginning Tuesday.
Should they win that best-of-three set, which would see games next Tuesday in Portland and then Thursday and possibly Friday at home, they would move on to the Eastern League Championship Series against the West Division Series winner on Tuesday, Sept. 25.
The end of Somerset’s season won’t be the end of Dominguez’s season, though, as it was announced Friday that he is one of seven Yankees preliminarily set to play in this year’s Arizona Fall League.
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