They call him the “Martian,” based on his freakish physical talent and size at just 17 years old. With an exit velocity reaching 108 mph, New York Yankees‘ Jasson Dominguez is one of the more polarizing prospects in all of baseball.
In fact, Dominguez is considered so highly, he ended at number 33 in Baseball America top 100 prospect list. Despite not even playing a minor-league game yet, Dominguez contains all of the tools necessary to be the next Mike Trout. He has all five tools, hitting, hitting for power, running, fielding, and throwing. His jump from number 38 to 33 is based simply on potential, despite not having seen him play a live-action game yet.
The outfielder ranks in between two other Yankee prospects, including Deivi Garcia, who is at number five, and Clarke Schmidt at number 64.
When the Yankees originally inked him to an international deal, they knew what type of prospect he could become. However, the optimism has ballooned so high that his expectations are astronomical. Based on scouting reports, though, he has every ability to reach them.
Donny Rowland, the Yankees top international scout, had glowing reviews about Jasson Dominguez when they initially signed him:
“The hardest thing to do in sports is hit and the second hardest thing to do is figure out who’s going to hit,†Rowland said. “We have 50-plus official submitted reports on him very high hit grades and power grades. Swing is very good both sides. The explosion, and his exit velocity touching 108 (mph). His launch angle is in the happy zone. We saw him work out on July 1. The final footage. … He threw and had a well-above average arm. The most impressive aspect is that the accuracy is just as good as arm-strength.â€
At just 17 years old, the expectation is that Dominguez will likely spend a few years in the Yankees’ minor-league system but could find his way to the top team within the next few seasons. He’s a Martian, after all, with incredible power for his age. He simply has to get used to facing off against pitchers with high velocity, and due to the minor-league season being canceled in 2020, his development has stagnated.
Reps, reps, and more reps are what Dominguez needs, and if he shows significant growth in his first year, he could rise through the ranks similar to Garcia, who made the jump to the MLB in after just one year in the minors.