It took 143 games, but the Yankees are finally putting their most talented players on the field. The Yankees called up top prospect Jasson Domínguez on Monday, three days after GM Brian Cashman threw his support behind Alex Verdugo and said the veteran gives them the best chance to win. Within days, Domínguez was up and manager Aaron Boone was talking about him playing “a lot.”
“The evaluations that we’re having with our field staff and player development staff and front office staff is just what is going to give us the best chance to win, and as of right now, we’re staying pat with what we’ve got,” Cashman said this past weekend about sticking with Verdugo (via the Associated Press). “But we’re always in the position to change our minds at some point too.”
Domínguez slashed .364/.430/.580 with five homers in his last 22 Triple-A games, and he went 1 for 4 with a stolen base in Monday’s win over the Royals (NY 10, KC 4). Verdugo had a good game as well, going 2 for 4 with a home run. It was only his fourth home run since June 1. Rookie catcher Austin Wells stole the spotlight and clubbed a go-ahead three-run homer.
Monday’s big game aside, Verdugo has been a drain on the offense almost all year. He rarely hits home runs, he doesn’t steal bases, and he has a .296 on-base percentage. There is no level of left field defense that makes that OK. Domínguez will take at-bats from Verdugo even though they were in the lineup together Monday (Aaron Judge was at DH and Giancarlo Stanton sat).
“(Domínguez is) gonna come up here, he’s gonna play, he’s gonna help this team win,” Verdugo said after Monday’s game (via the New York Daily News). “And whatever that means, that means. If I lose a little bit of playing time, I lose a little bit of playing time. At the end of the day, I want to win, and the only thing that matters is getting to the playoffs and winning there.”
The Yankees’ handling of Domínguez has been nonsensical at times. For example, he was called up to be the 27th man in the Little League Classic on Aug. 18 and batted fifth against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. If a player is good enough to hit fifth against Skubal, the Cy Young frontrunner, shouldn’t he be in the lineup full-time? Instead, that was a one-day promotion for Domínguez.
For several weeks, Domínguez managed to thread the needle between “good enough to hit fifth against Skubal” and “not good enough to replace Verdugo” in the eyes of the Yankees. They saw enough to change their minds over the last three days, which, OK, good teams make changes when they need to be made. But it took a while. It took too long, really.
This isn’t just about Domínguez either. The Yankees waited until Clay Holmes blew 11 saves — 11! — to make a change at closer last week. Holmes had blown seven of his previous 17 save chances and yet he remained the closer until Game 139. In a tight AL East race, those blown ninth-inning leads are a killer, and the Yankees allowed it to continue happening for weeks.
Anthony Volpe hit leadoff for 76 consecutive games from April 10 to July 3, during which he put up a .293 on-base percentage. It was three months of unproductive at-bats in the leadoff spot. Wells, who has entered the Rookie of the Year conversation, did not get a No. 1 catcher’s workload until Jose Trevino got hurt on July 12, even though his bat had begun to perk up weeks earlier.
There is something to be said for remaining patient and letting players work through things, but the Yankees have gone beyond patient at times this year. They’ve been borderline complacent. They waited way, way too long to make a change at closer. They also waited too long to make a change at leadoff, to give Wells the catching reigns, and to replace Verdugo with Domínguez.
These are better-late-than-never situations and, with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, New York’s roster is the healthiest and most complete it has been all season. Luis Gil, Ian Hamilton, Anthony Rizzo, and Clarke Schmidt have all come off the injured list since Sept. 1, and Domínguez is up. With 18 games to play, the Yankees finally have their best roster on the field.
Monday’s win combined with the Orioles’ loss to the Red Sox (BOS 12, BAL 3) gave the Yankees a 1 1/2-game lead in the AL East with less than three weeks to play. The Yankees and O’s have been locked in a battle of who wants it less for weeks. Both teams have played .500-ish ball for three months now. It’s remarkable, really. What should be a powerhouse division is instead meh.
If Domínguez doesn’t perform, the Yankees can go right back to Verdugo. In a division race this tight, every little upgrade is worth exploring, and the Yankees should have promoted Domínguez sooner. What’s done is done though. Domínguez and Yankees have 18 games to take control of the AL East, and the team they have right now is the best one they’ve had all season.
