The New York Yankees were dealt a brutal blow when team captain Aaron Judge went down with an elbow injury. And even though he has returned to the lineup as a designated hitter, the team can’t be considered at full strength until he returns to the outfield.
With Judge playing a defensive position, the Yankees are able to deploy Giancarlo Stanton as the DH and unlock their best possible batting order. But now that his top prospect hype has eroded into some disappointing results, outfielder Jasson Dominguez is projected to find himself on the outside looking in.
Predicting the “ideal Yankees lineup after Aaron Judge returns” to the outfield against both right-handed and left-handed pitchers, Stephen Parello of Yanks Go Yard left Dominguez out. Though Dominguez has struggled this season, he was one of the most promising sluggers on the team not long ago and has been getting some at-bats at the bottom of the order with Judge serving in the DH role.
But Parello projected that the Yankees will bench Dominguez to field their best lineups once Judge returns to the outfield.
“The true failing here is Jasson Dominguez, who is a switch-hitter in name only,” Parello wrote. “This would be a prime opportunity to get the 22-year-old some at-bats, but his .569 OPS while batting right-handed pales in comparison to (Trent) Grisham’s still subpar .662 mark.”
Dominguez’s inability to produce offensively this season comes as a surprise after he slashed a stunning .258/.303/.677 in his first 31 at-bats in a major league debut two years ago. After hitting four homers in that brief debut, it seemed that Dominguez would be making good on the hype as the franchise’s top prospect.
Instead, he has notably regressed this season as he earned a full-time promotion to start the year. And with Judge eventually coming back to the outfield, Dominguez could see that regression push him to the bench for the rest of his rookie campaign.
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