Yankees Must Stop Jasson Dominguez Charade Before it's Too Late

Right now, Jasson Dominguez is slated to be the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees in 2026. Whether or not that actually holds remains to be seen, but it is the current state of affair in the Bronx.

On one hand, the idea of Dominguez playing every day is exciting because we will finally get to see if he is capable of handling a full-time role and if he truly has star potential.

But on the other hand, it's absolutely terrifying.

We know that Dominguez is an absolute nightmare defensively, and while he can certainly improve in that category, it seems blatantly obvious that he will never become anything more than a pedestrian outfielder, at best (where did that "five tool" talk come from again?).

On top of that, Dominguez's bat was not nearly good enough in 2025 to justify him having an everyday role, which was why he was benched down the stretch.

However, a closer look at Dominguez's numbers shows that the 22-year-old really has one glaring problem offensively: hitting from the right side of the plate.

Dominguez slashed a respectable .274/.348/.420 against right-handed pitching this past season. Fantastic? No. More power would have been nice, but it was at least decent.

Now, when the "switch hitter" batted right-handed against lefties, he slashed .204/.279/.290. Yes, it was over the small sample size of 104 plate appearances, but it was enough to demonstrate that Dominguez probably shouldn't be playing against left-handers ... or batting switch.

Perhaps simply allowing Dominguez to hit exclusively from the left side of the plate would be ideal. It's entirely possible that the Dominican native just can't hit left-handed pitching no matter where he is standing, but it seems blatantly obvious that this whole switch-hitting charade isn't working.

Either that, or the Yankees will have to find a platoon partner for Dominguez, whether that be Austin Hays (who rakes against lefties) or allowing Spencer Jones to serve as that piece, although I'm not sure New York would want Jones playing part time in the big leagues.

Of course, if the Yanks do re-sign Cody Bellinger or make a splash for Kyle Tucker, then Dominguez will probably become trade bait. It's difficult to imagine the Yankees committing to Dominguez long term with Bellinger on the roster, especially considering Bellinger's best role is clearly as a corner outfielder (he isn't a great center fielder).

But if New York fails to retain Bellinger and isn't able to land Tucker? Then something will have to be done about Dominguez's struggles from the right side of the plate. No contending team can afford to have an almost automatic out in the lineup, and such is the case for The Martin against lefties.

It's true that Dominguez is still incredibly young and has plenty of time to develop, but sometimes, you need to save a player from himself before it's too late, and that could be exactly what the Yankees need to do when it comes to the switch-hitting youngster.