Yankees Provide Encouraging Jasson Dominguez News

Dominguez, still just 23 years old, is recovering from an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. He sustained the injury on May 7 against the Texas Rangers on the very first play of the game; Dominguez made a great catch of a hard liner off the bat of Brandon Nimmo but crashed hard into the left field chain-link fence in the process. He was carted off the field and put in concussion protocol, but was later cleared of any symptoms.

Initially called up due to Giancarlo Stanton's calf injury, Dominguez's status don't look too impressive on the surface. In 32 plate appearances, the switch-hitting outfielder is hitting just .200/.250/.367, with six hits in 30 at-bats. However, the batted-ball data tells a much different story.

Dominguez has absolutely pummeled the ball in his at-bats, with an average exit velocity of 91.9 mph (per Statcast). Of the 26 balls he put in play, 11 of them had an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher, giving him a 42.3% hard-hit rate. Based on this quality of contact, Dominguez's expected batting average (xBA) is .326. This indicates Dominguez has hit into some unlucky outs and that his statistics are expected to even out over time.

The announcement of Dominguez's progress is timely, as the Yankees are currently holding their breath for outfielder Aaron Judge. The Yankee captain aggravated a bone bruise over the past weekend and will be seeing a doctor tonight, being day-to-day in the meantime. If Judge ends up on the IL, having Dominguez on track towards returning could help soften the blow a little bit.