Two youngsters give glimpse into the future of Yankee baseball
It's been a rough baseball season in New York, but the future appears bright in the Bronx. The Yankees (68-69) are last in the AL East, 17.5 games behind Baltimore in the AL East and eight games out of the third AL wild-card spot. The 2023 season is over.
Yankees brass came to this realization late last week and called up prized prospects, outfielder Jasson Dominguez and catcher Austin Wells, to begin preparations for the future.
In their first MLB series this past weekend, the two Yankees youngsters fueled a sweep in Houston, a city that has been a house of horrors for the team from the Bronx.
Dominguez started his career with a historic bang, homering against future hall-of-famer Justin Verlander in his first career bat.
The Yankee youngster went three for 13 with two home runs, three hits, four RBI and nine total bases in the series. Sarah Langs noted the 20-year-old became just the fourth Yankee ever to hit a home run in two of his first three games, joining Aaron Judge (2016), Joe Lefebvre (1980) and Yogi Berra (1946).
He also joined Lefebvre as the only two Yankees to record multi-RBI games in two of their first three games
The most encouraging part of Dominguez's weekend striking out just twice. The outfielder posted a 25.6% strikeout rate in 507 at-bats for Double-A Somerset this summer.
Wells went two for 10 in the series, with two RBI and an extra-base hit. The 24-year-old played for both Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre this year, posting an exceptional 11.0% walk rate at both levels while producing above-average offensive numbers.
Wells and Dominguez brought energy and juice to Houston, which the Yankees have desperately needed in 2023.
With the recent waving of center fielder Harrison Bader, the Yankees will have two starting outfield jobs up for grabs next spring. Dominguez should have the inside track to the center field job in 2024 and could put a stranglehold on the job if he continues to rake.
The Yankees have Jose Trevino, Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt as catching options, but none offer the upside Wells does offensively. If Wells continues to rake and shows competent defense in September he will be the favorite to start behind the dish in 2024.
The Yankees hope the new era of the Baby Bombers, featuring Anthony Volpe, Oswald Pereza, Dominguez and Wells, will have more success than the previous Baby Bombers era that featured Yankee flameouts Clint Frazier, Miguel Andújar, Gary Sánchez and Gleyber Torres.
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