After Jasson Dominguez's hot start for Yankees, is Spencer Jones next?

It has been a long and arduous road for New York Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez, but after being relegated to the minors to start the 2026 MLB season, he is back and seeing regular playing time in place of the injured Giancarlo Stanton. The one caveat is Stanton will be back soon. But while he has the chance, Dominguez is making the best of it.

After a scorching start in Triple-A, Dominguez is 5-for-18 with one home run entering Monday’s game with the Baltimore Orioles. Having seen his defensive struggles in left field last year, manager Aaron Boone still doesn’t fully trust him on the outfield grass. 

The Yankees relied on a combination of Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Randal Grichuk alternating in left field and center until Grichuk was DFA’d as a result of his poor performance. Dominguez has spent only three innings in left field this season. 

But while The Martian’s defensive limitations might add uncertainty to his future as a regular contributor in the Yankee lineup, there is another burgeoning outfield star awaiting his shot, and he is making a compelling case. 

Spencer Jones is raking in Triple-A 

Jones broke out last season, hitting .274/.362/.571 with 35 home runs and 29 steals in 438 at-bats across Double-A and Triple-A. Now, the Yankees’ “left-handed Aaron Judge” is putting on an encore, hitting .261/.366/.586 with 10 home runs in 111 Triple-A at-bats entering Monday. 

Jones’ power is undeniable, but it does come with a couple major drawbacks. For one, there is his tendency to strike out. Jones struck out a total of 379 times from 2024 to 2025 over the course of 920 at-bats. This year, he has been fanned 43 times. Jones’ ability to post high on-base percentages and power numbers may be enough to offset his strikeout rate, but that brings us to his second shortcoming.

According to MLB Pipeline, Jones hit a mere .189 against upper-level lefties. Should southpaws continue to pose a problem for him, this could reduce his ceiling from a middle-of-the-order slugger to a righty-mashing platoon player.

Regardless of how his strikeout rate or stats against lefties turn out, he’ll most likely get his feet wet sometime this year at a minimum. And should he continue to mash, that day will come sooner rather than later. But it will be his deficiencies and the way in which he manages them that will decide how long he lasts with the team.