New York Yankees: Jasson Dominguez is ignoring the hype and working as hard as he can

These days, it’s increasingly hard to be a top prospect in baseball. Expectations that these young players have on their shoulders are absurd. And, in the specific case of New York Yankees‘ wonderkid Jasson Dominguez, things are getting out of hand in a hurry. Basically, he’s getting comparisons to current star and already all-time great Mike Trout, which is unfair given that he hasn’t even played stateside yet.

“We have a joke where we say, ‘Hey, don’t believe the movie,’” Dominguez’s agent, Gio Rodriguez of CAA Baseball, said to Forbes this week. “And it’s a big thing for us. We kind of bounce that off each other all the time. And I’ll kind of mess with him and say, ‘You haven’t done anything yet.’ Let everybody else hype it up and all that, but we’re not believing the hype.

“We’re going to work. So that’s what this kid has done. He’s put his head down since the day he signed. He’s seen the expectations out there, and he’s seen (his) trading cards going for thousands and thousands of dollars, but he just hasn’t believed yet. He’s working out like he’s still looking for a bonus. And he hasn’t stopped.”

Not believing the hype is what could keep the New York Yankees’ young prospect sane amid all the hoopla. People are already expecting him to be a member of the 500 homer, 500 steal club, which is absolutely nuts.

A future Yankees’ star?

Yes, the kid has all the tools to be a star. A compact, powerful swing is the headliner, one that prompted the Yankees to pay a bonus of over $5 million to secure his services as an international free agent.

Dominguez is fast, he has an excellent arm and could play center field. He is built like a running back. And, most importantly, he works hard.

“He’s a rare breed,” said Rodriguez. “When he walks into a room, he’s not your prototypical 6-foot-4 ballplayer. He doesn’t look like Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton. He was a shorter kid who already had a thicker build and just got after it and decided to really build up his body, working on his explosiveness, his core, his legs, his upper body. From an early age, he identified that he needed to bring something else to the table.”

The Forbes article explains the daily journey that Dominguez follows in his quest to be a Yankees’ star someday. “Each week, Dominguez makes a two-hour commute to the Charlie Nova Baseball Academy to work out with trainer Pedro Pichardo. The grind begins Monday and ends Friday—a combination of speed, agility, hitting and fielding drills. Dominguez sleeps at the Dominican facility, his home away from home. Often, it will be 10 p.m., and Dominguez will ask Pichardo to get another late session in before bed.”