Promising Yankees Rookie At Risk of Losing Role

The New York Yankees are facing an imminent lineup crunch, and Jasson Domínguez may find himself as one of the odd men out.

As Giancarlo Stanton nears the end of his rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset and gets set to rejoin the Yankees in the immediate future, the club will be forced to make some tough decisions on a nightly basis given their copious amount of offensive talent.

New York is currently rostering 11 players who have a wRC+ of 100 or better with at least 60 plate appearances on the season, including Domínguez.

The 22-year-old rookie left fielder has been productive for the Yankees, hitting .240/.333/.393 with six home runs, 25 RBIs, eight stolen bases and a 107 wRC+ over 213 trips to the plate.

The issue, however, is that he's gone ice cold recently. Over 11 games and 42 plate appearances since May 25, Domínguez owns a slash line of .216/.286/.243 to go alongside no home runs and a 52 wRC+.

While he's only served as New York's designated hitter on eight occasions this year, his reps in that role will dwindle even further once Stanton is back with the team. The Yankees know they're going to have to get creative in order to fit some of their premier bats, such as Ben Rice, in the lineup as a result, but getting Domínguez at-bats may not be a priority right now.

He has the built-in advantage of being a switch-hitter, but his .802 OPS against right-handed pitching on the year far outshines his .577 mark vs. left-handers.

That's particularly pertinent in this case, as Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger are both left-handed hitters who aren't ideal platoon candidates.

Bellinger does have reverse splits this season with a .945 OPS against left-handers as opposed to a .710 OPS when facing righties, though he's performed better vs. the latter over the course of his career.

Grisham, on the other hand, owns a .945 OPS against right-handers and a .587 OPS against southpaws in 2025.

Essentially, there's little merit for Domínguez to split reps with either player moving forward. He'll likely still start against right-handed pitchers on occasion, but it also doesn't help that he's been the worst defensive outfielder on the team this season by a wide margin with -4 Defensive Runs Saved and -5 Outs Above Average.

Domínguez has a bright future ahead of him, and his struggles won't last for long, but he may see a decrease in his playing time for the time being.

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