New York Yankees Cannot be Fooled by Jasson Dominguez

The New York Yankees have won four straight games heading into the All-Star break, but it's abundantly clear that they need a whole lot of help.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton remain sidelined for the foreseeable future, and with the Yankees' two big boppers out of the lineup, things have become dire.

Yes, Ben Rice has picked it up recently, but outside of him, New York's offense has been generally subpar.

Judge is slated to go for re-imaging on his rib stress fracture during the break, and Stanton is running again as he recovers from multiple calf injuries.

But there is no definitive timetable for either player, and with the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline, the Yankees must be thinking of alternative solutions.

And that includes potentially seeking an outfield bat, even if Jasson Dominguez is currently penciled in as the starting right fielder with Judge sidelined.

Sure, Dominguez has shown some flashes of late. He strung together three straight multi-hit games last week, and he owns a respectable .724 OPS thus far in the month of July. But as Aaron Boone said, more is expected.

Dominguez is slashing just .235/.273/.409 over 140 plate appearances on the season. His walk rate — which was a very impressive 9.6 percent last year — has plummeted to 4.3 percent. His barrel rate is at 4.8 percent. His hard-hit percentage is at 39 percent, over 10 points below his 2025 mark.

His .263 BABIP is also not that glaring, which indicates that he hasn't been incredibly unlucky. He just isn't hitting the ball very well.

On top of that, Dominguez is still an adventure in the outfield. Yes, he has improved defensively, but it doesn't seem like there is ever going to come a time where you'll feel comfortable having his glove out there.

New York absolutely cannot be fooled into thinking that Dominguez will be any sort of a consistent answer this season, and his presence on the roster should not stop Brian Cashman from making a significant move before the deadline.

The Yankees have fallen into this trap with their young players in the past, and it has cost them. They cannot afford to make the same mistake with Dominguez, who has not come remotely close to living up to his lofty expectations.

Over the course of 669 plate appearances since getting his first taste of big-league action in 2023, Dominguez lays claim to a .716 OPS. Terrible? Hardly. Up to snuff relative to his billing? Absolutely not.

Dominguez has some pop and he is a terrific baserunner. He also has a very good arm. There is no doubt he has some positive qualities. But at this point, he should not be an everyday player for a contender. Especially not for a Yankees squad that has the capacity to be able to land a marquee talent.

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