And he still might. It's a long season. But one full week into 2023, Dominguez has yet to turn the ignition at Double A Somerset. He is hitless in 16 at bats and fanned nine times. (Two walks, two stolen bases.) As the king of youthful expectations, he suddenly looks a lot more like Greg Bird than Juan Soto. Instead of ragging that he didn't start the year in Scranton, Yank fans may soon be asking if The Martian is ready for the Eastern League.
Of course, we must keep repeating: It's just 16 at bats. It's just 16 at bats. Five games. That's a pittance. If he heats up tonight, he could be above Mendoza by Sunday. In fact, I hesitated about posting this update, figuring that it's way too soon to sound an alarm - I'm officially NOT sounding any alarm - but the guy struck out four times last night, which means he must be grinding his teeth in bed.
And listen: In some cruel respects, this is a good thing - the normal order of the universe. Everybody faces the April frost, the killer slump. He will either fight through this or disappear. If Dominguez - or anybody - thinks spring training stats matter, they can talk to Greg Bird, who crushed Tampa in multiple months of March, or Kyle Higashioka, who led the 2022 Grapefruit Yanks in HRs. This year, Dominguez will show us who he is. You cannot be the Great Yankee Hope forever.
Is he a future star? Or the next Jose Tabata, Jackson Melian, Ruben Rivera, Jesus Montero, etc. They come and go, and they break our hearts.
Dermis Garcia broke mine. He headed the famous Yankee international signings class of 2014, when Hal decided to shoot his wad on 16-year-old Latinos. (Not sure if that's the right way to put it?) The Yankees lavished $3.2 million on Garcia, a hulking manchild with an epic name. (Imagine John Sterling's HR holler.) Overall, the Yankees that summer spent $12 million on seven wunderkinds: Derms, Nelson Gomez, Juan De Leon, Jonathan Amundary, Wilkerman Garcia, Miguel Flames and Hyo-Joo Park. None has panned out.
Like most lost Yankee souls, Dermis wound up with Oakland. Last year, he hit 5 HRs and batted .205 in 125 plate appearances for the A's. This year, he's back in Triple A, hitting .250 with 2 HRs. He's now 25.
Which brings us back to The Martian. I'm not saying we should worry. Not yet, anyway. In the spirit of Franchy Cordero, there is a Promised Land for all the youngsters who never fulfilled the unlimited potential bestowed upon them by the Yankee hype machine. Because that's what it is: A vampiric, soul-grinding system that constantly craves new blood.
If The Martian flops, we will quickly pivot to Roderick Arias - "Rod-A," to everyone in need of a flashy nickname - whom the Yankees signed in 2022 for $4 million, the largest payout that year to a Latino teenager. Last year, he hit .194 in the Dominican Summer League. This year, he'll probably move up to Rookie A-ball. The hype machine will keep grinding. In the meantime, let's hope Dominguez gets a bloop single or a seeing-eye base hit, something to break the drought. It's gotta be lonely, being the Great Yankee Hope... and 0 for 16.
" An epic Dermis shot that cleans the bases! He hit the Zit out of that ball..."
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of The Martian's 0 for 16 at bats, so I don't know if he's flailing at off speed or trying too hard or what, although hearing that he struck out four times in his last game sounds like he's in a slump. Anyway, it's only four games. Here's to hoping he breaks out soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have to find out quickly whether these kids are good enough. Only a few will make it. I would've started him up here with the big club, and 16 at bats ain't going to make a difference to me. If he's not good enough, we didn't lose anything anyway. Just have to get more new blood and move on. How many good position players have the Yankees developed in the last two decades? Like two (Cano & Judge)?
And if he's good enough, bringing him up early won't ruin him. At some point, it's always trial by fire, you either make it or you don't.
Of course, since I haven't seen his at bats, other than a few highlights from spring training, it could be that they're doing the right thing by starting him off in the minors. Because perhaps he's not ready. But it's just that I have zero confidence in the Yankees' assessment of their players, given their history of development. Two players in the last two decades.
Mike Axisa of the old River Ave Blues website wrote “Spring Training is full of lies”. He was , of course, correct.
ReplyDeleteFor young Mr. Dominguez, recently turned 20 and playing a level a few years above his head, there needs to be patience. He shares my birthday along with Charles Dickens, Chris Rock, Ashton Kutcher, and Dan Quisenberry. An “A” team if ever there was one. (We missed the Babe’s birthday by a day.🤨)
JD was born in a little town called Esperanza, DR.
Esperanza is the Spanish word for Hope.
One thing can be said about Dermis Garcia: When he plays baseball, you've always got skin in the game.
ReplyDeleteDuque, surprised you didn't write about yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYanks almost got robbed by that 1st inning controversy. The umps broke their own 15 second challenge rule and tried to help out Cleveland. Boone did his "we're freakin' savages" routine and got tossed.
Not only did the Yanks end up winning a nail biter, but the second base ump got nailed in the head by a Cleveland throw. Comeuppence? Like Goliath getting clocked in the head with David's stone.
Was that a heavenly portent of things to come this year? That was a game that looked like a sure loss. The kind of game that the Yanks routinely piss away every year. Then Franchy & Cabrera come to the rescue, and Holmes hangs on for the save, despite looking like he's been taking lessons from El Chapo (formerly known as "the Fastest Gun in Pinstripes").
J'asson is fine. Sometimes when you face talent that's on the same level as you and then face lesser competition, you can't immediately adjust. I think his Spring showed who he should be facing, but he isn't. So it might take a few weeks to get used to the bozos again.
ReplyDeleteI agree, JM. While MLB pitchers have better stuff ( movement, number of accomplished pitches), they are usually around the plate. In the minors, especially under the AAA level, the pitchers tend to be both wild and afraid to challenge hitters more directly in the strike zone. So it's likely that Dominguez has gone fishing for pitches that he laid off in spring training. He will have to be a more patient hitter and rack up the walks rather than whiffs.
ReplyDelete@ JM, There's definitely something to what you say. I remember Paul O'Neill said that it's harder to hit in the minors than in the majors. He said the kids throw harder and they're wild & erratic. Major leaguers rehabbing for a few games in the minors sometimes go hitless and look terrible.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I thought of is that they sent The Martian down only halfway through spring training. Then it took quite a while before the minor league season got started. It started after the major leagues were already well underway. What was he doing during that period of time? I'm not familiar with what they do in the minors. If they were just taking batting practice, you can see why a few weeks of that would put a guy in a slump. Could be nothing, just a thought.
This kid will be traded at the deadline for this years version of Montas, Sonny Gray, Jeff Weaver, fill in the blanks. It's hard to get worked up about it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I fear! Either that or they'll give him the Florial treatment. I hope we're not still talking about this five years from now!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Yanks stole yesterday's game. As for Jasson, Yanks aren't trading him. He's hitting another wall and he'll get through that (literally)...
ReplyDeleteJasson! With a WhaaaSSONN!!
ReplyDeleteOr something along those lines.
The entirety of the NY Yankee ownership and front office can snort my taint.
I remain a Jasson agnostic. I wish him well, I expect nothing.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how it is that the rules can simply be disregarded by the umps. Well hey, once the moral order starts to break down by allowing some long-haired hippie freak in the Yanks' locker room...
I am with Hoss. In fact, I've been a Jasson atheist.
ReplyDeleteTo the point, that I have always referred to him as a they. Jessica, in fact.
Per usual, I am willing to be humiliated and would gladly welcome " the next Mantle or Mike Trout."
But I expect he is already at his peak.
You guys could very well be right. All we have to do is look at the dismal record of developing players for this club.
ReplyDeleteBut, on the other hand, there are some signs of life. Oswaldo Cabrera looks like a good player, probably should play every day. Oswald Peraza looked good last year, so I can't figure out why the hell he's in the minors. And Thairo Estrada seemed like a good player to me. I'm not sure why they had to trade him.
"Trading" Thairo might have produced something. Instead, the ever-cash-short Yankees SOLD him to SF, for an undisclosed amount. Because, you know, we can easily afford to throw away players who hit decently and play every position on the field.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it was just an attempt to screw me over, leaving me with a warehouse full of "Thairo the Pharaoh" Egyptian headdresses, still moldering away in the Bronx.
Ohhhh, that's right, Hoss! Thairo was the guy they threw away for a bag of money. I forgot about that!
ReplyDeleteHe's now hitting a storm in SF, OPS over 900. Small sample size and all, but I always thought he could hit. According to the stat pages, he's only 5'10". Maybe that's why they got rid of him. They don't like small players. They only like behemoths.