The Jasson Dominguez concern reached another level on Thursday after the promising youngster couldn’t come up with a tough play at the wall, his latest struggle with a ball in left field.
There have been several instances where the 22-year-old had trouble tracking the ball in left field since the end of last season, but Chris McMonigle says the reaction from the Yankee fanbase has been an “overreaction,” as he believes Dominguez and the Yankees will be fine one way or another.
“The Yankees came out and told you at the beginning of spring that they’re gonna give him a six-week window to figure out left field,” C-Mac said. “He’s 22 years old.
“One, he just lost in the sun…the catcher could lose a ball in the sun. He had one misplayed ball, one roll up his arm coming in on a hard base hit, and didn’t make a play in the gap that I would venture to say a quarter of starting left fielders in baseball today would have trouble making a play on.”
C-Mac isn’t making a big deal about a few rough plays in spring training at a new position, and still believes four weeks is plenty of time to iron out the kinks before Opening Day.
As for the argument by some fans that Dominguez should take over center and slot the defensively superior Cody Bellinger in left field, C-Mac wants no part of it.
“The Yankees are playing this exactly right, because Cody Bellinger is the better defender,” C-Mac said. “You want your best defender in center field…it’s the most important position.”