The New York Yankees are sitting on a treasure chest full of young prospects with elite potential. Ranging from Anthony Volpe to Luis Gil, the Bombers have quality littered across their farm system, but that doesn’t guarantee they will be above average players at the MLB level.
One of the league’s most hyped prospects has been Jasson Dominguez the past two years, containing elite raw capabilities but simply doesn’t have the experience to make the jump at 19 years old. Dominguez featured in Low-A ball last season with Tampa, recording a .258 batting average with five homers and 18 RBIs.
Dominguez is just getting accustomed to professional minor-league players, a drastic difference from the talent he was facing back in the Dominican Republic. Having just turned 19 years old, Dominguez projects as a fantastic centerfielder in the future, but he must prove he can hold his own throughout Double-A and triple-A before making a jump.
Kiley McDaniel’s of ESPN raved about Jasson Dominguez in her top-100 player’s list, but did indicate he has a long way to go before he achieves the lofty comparisons made to current stars:
All the scouty stuff you heard before Dominguez played is still true: He has borderline unbelievable tools (plus-plus raw power that may end up being a true 80, a plus-plus arm, plus-plus speed when he opens it up) even when not considering his age. If you pick any current MLB star who wasn’t the most hyped player in their age group as a teenager (so, not Bryce Harper, but basically everyone else), Dominguez was more advanced than them at the same stage, since he has amazing tools and none of those players had played real pro games at that point, so performance is barely a component of the comparison. So the clickbaity stuff you heard about him being better than Mike Trout (25th overall pick as a 17-year-old) at the same stage was technically true, but also meaningless because that’s technically true of about like 15 players at any time.
McDaniel’s coins Dominguez as a “refrigerator box filled with dynamite,” an awesome display of power, speed, and arm strength.
Dominguez has seen his name pop up alongside trout, Mickey Mantle, and even Lou Gehrig. It is far too early to make those comparisons, but if properly developed, Dominguez could be the next superstar for the Bombers, with Aaron Judge preparing to sign a lucrative extension next off-season.