Jasson Dominguez is currently blistering the ball in Triple-A, looking like the best prospect in the Yankees’ organization again and making it all too easy for them to justify a promotion. Given the fact that Alex Verdugo has an 83 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR, this feels like a decision that any sane organization would make; call up the young red-hot prospect who is finally torching the baseball after working back from Tommy John Surgery and an oblique injury from the summer. Since August 14th, he’s hitting .361 with a 1.008 OPS, launching four home runs in 18 games, but the Yankees have refused to promote him.
It’s an obvious decision for the Bronx Bombers, and yet they’ve chosen to stay put with their left fielder despite the team sinking over the last few weeks.
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It’s hard to even argue that Alex Verdugo was jogging to first base last night, he was barely even moving down the line on groundballs when the team was down five runs in a heated playoff race. I’m not sure what it’s going to take for the Yankees to get consistent effort from the former top-100 prospect, but I can tell you that they should look at their consensus top-100 prospect in Scranton to replace him. The Yankees have a chance to win the American League East and secure a bye for the postseason, and this team has sleep-walked through a “light” part of their schedule.
Sure, I don’t need Alex Verdugo running it out on a routine grounder, but I also need him to not walk out of the box essentially. What really bothers me is that the manager, Aaron Boone, has opted to defend that kind of effort when we’ve seen him pull the plug on a much better player like Gleyber Torres when he doesn’t hustle.
“He’s beat up. He’s playing his a** off. He picks his spots. You see him beat it out when he needs to. He beats out the force play the other night to beat the double play. Sometimes, I wished it looked better on certain ones, but when he hits the one-hopper to the second baseman and he’s got it — I get the look. I don’t have any issue with how hard he’s playing the game.” – Aaron Boone (via @ChrisKirschner on Twitter)
The problem starts with the fact that the organization won’t admit they don’t have their best left fielder up on the Major League roster. It makes no sense to routinely deny that there’s a lane for Jasson Dominguez to play every day, everyone with any sort of baseball acumen knows that Verdugo Alex Verdugo hasn’t played nearly well enough to have an unquestioned starting job. Furthermore, the idea that he gets added favor when it comes to hustle because he’s hurt is laughable; if he’s banged up, why is he playing?
We’ve reached the point where it’s become unacceptable for management to continue and lie through their teeth to this fanbase about the reality of the left field situation. Jasson Dominguez has earned a promotion to the Major Leagues, ranking in the 87th Percentile in both Zone Contact% and Damage per Batted Ball, and while his plate discipline hasn’t been as sharp, his unique combination of power and contact make him a threat for any pitcher he goes up against.
Usually, hitters experience a power decrease in their first few weeks back from Tommy John Surgery, and the Yankees’ top prospect underwent a similar struggle that was further worsened by his oblique injury. After hitting two home runs through 22 games with a .126 ISO and 76 wRC+ in Triple-A, Dominguez has hit four homers in his last 18 games and has seen the ISO increase to .222. It’s a mind-numbing arrogance from this organization, the kind that shows to both players inside the clubhouse and people outside of it that playing time isn’t always handed out based on merit.
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Since the start of August, Alex Verdugo has a 61 wRC+ and .277 OBP, but some have pointed out that he’s played better as of late. Over his last 11 games, he’s hitting .341 with a 127 wRC+ which would indicate he’s getting hot, except if you look at his last eight games he’s back to a 57 wRC+. He’s not doing much damage on contact, he isn’t an on-base machine, he doesn’t hit for an insanely high average, and he’s not even giving this team the courtesy of running out groundballs when they’re gunning for the top spot in the AL East.
Trent Grisham has just three fewer home runs than Alex Verdugo in roughly a third of the plate appearances and has a higher wRC+ on the season. If the Yankees don’t want to call up Dominguez, Grisham is right there to get everyday reps and move Aaron Judge out of centerfield where he’s struggled defensively this year. It’s one thing to make the wrong decision in terms of playing time, but it’s another to lie to the public and say the quality of play is why Alex Verdugo gets everyday reps.
Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge lobbied to acquire him in the offseason, I’m more than sure that has more to do with why he’s starting every day than his “underlying metrics”. Is a career-worst xwOBA (.309) or xwOBACON (.330) going to make you feel like he’s a victim of some awful luck? Verdugo isn’t a victim of some tough luck, he’s a beneficiary of confirmation bias from the Yankees, who have unquestioned faith that there’s value in playing him every single day.
The Yankees keep things close to their chest in terms of making statements about a player, which is why I think it’s important to take a grain of salt whenever Aaron Boone praises a player’s effort or process during a slump. We know he isn’t the kind of guy to rip a guy to reporters, which I find admirable, but their actions reflect his words and that’s the scary part. What I won’t do is pretend they’re right just because they’re saying so.
To put it bluntly; the Yankees refuse to have their best 26-man roster in the middle of a pennant chase. They’ve cultivated a culture of undeserved playing time this season with their negligence in left field and it’s going to hurt the Yankees’ chances of winning the World Series. This franchise has lost its edge, and fans are more than justified to question whether the people behind these decisions should remain in-place if it doesn’t result in this team taking home a pennant.