Yankees Have Not Mismanaged Martian’s Return
Despite the sport’s marathon-like nature, Yankees fans are among the most reactionary of any group in the area. Every loss seemingly breeds a figurative cancer that must be extracted before it metastasizes.
And when you are in the midst of a 23-30 stretch, there are a host of symptoms about which fans are alarmist. The starting pitching has been dreadful (29th in ERA since June 15) and too many of the intermittent decent outings have been wasted by a subpar bullpen. The offense is overly dependent on the prolific bats of outfielders Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, with way too little production coming from the corner infielders. Second baseman Gleyber Torres doesn’t hustle. The catchers can’t throw anybody out. And Manager Aaron Boone has lost the team.
You wouldn’t know that the Bronx Bombers owned the American League’s best record through Saturday night. All that mattered in the run-up to Sunday’s Little League Classic against Detroit was that Jasson Dominguez, who was called up from AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre as an extra player for New York’s 3-2 10-inning loss in the event, should have been manning left field all along.
I get why Yankees fans are down on Alex Verdugo. Over his last 85 games, he’s slashing .219/.268/.332. As a former youth baseball coach, I can’t fathom how he got this far with his approach at the plate—the stance so open that the center field camera can easily capture the full “New York” across his chest on his road jersey, the bat resting on his shoulder until the pitcher starts his motion, followed by a not-so-quiet step forward into the pitch. In the old days, we’d flag this as “a hitch” and send him to the soft-toss cage to make him more compact at the plate; now, I guess it’s considered a normal “load.”
Credit Verdugo’s hard work and hustle for overcoming any timing issues he may have ever encountered with his swing to procure an eight-year MLB career with over $21 million in earnings, including $8.7 million from the Yankees this season following his trade from Boston. He was a Yankees fan favorite during the team’s hot start, especially after driving in four runs in his first return engagement to Fenway Park in June.
It’s been all downhill from there, unfortunately. Verdugo’s slump has resulted in louder calls for the Yankees to swap in Dominguez, “The Martian” who homered four times in his eight MLB games last year before a torn ulnar collateral ligament on his right throwing arm ended his season. Though Dominguez’s original timetable had him bound for the Bronx soon after a rehab stint in May, he injured his left oblique muscle on a checked swing on June 15 and missed another month-plus of action.
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman raised Yankees fans’ ire further when he claimed in a radio interview last week that “there’s currently no lane for us to bring (Dominguez up).” No lane? Was Cashman blind in his left eye? Verdugo has been performing like one of the worst outfielders in baseball. It must be because Cashman is trying to maintain Dominguez’s rookie status for next season, a penny-pinching strategy for a team that is in a tight division race with Baltimore.
Well, consider this: For all the hype surrounding Dominguez’s second return from the IL, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing in SWB. I must have seen a dozen reposts of last week’s homer on social media. There wasn’t any mention that it was his only one in the 17 games since his activation. Before that contest, he had been 8-for-37 (.216) with two doubles, four walks and 16 strikeouts.
Hardly a resume for a promotion. So maybe Dominguez really did need to stick around the minors for a little bit longer to find his groove. Over his last four games, he went 7-for-17 (.412) with four walks, three strikeouts, and four stolen bases.
Hence, Sunday seemed as good a time as any to give Dominguez another major league shot, though in hindsight, having him face Detroit’s Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal out of the gate might not have been great for his confidence. Dominguez looked overmatched in striking out three times and grounding out meekly to second base in his four plate appearances. In addition, his double clutch on Parker Meadows’ walkoff single to left field that plated Zach McKinstry wasn’t helpful, a proverbial rookie mistake.
Then again, Yankees fans will more likely be talking about “closer” Clay Holmes’ tenth blown save of the season on talk radio, social media, and at the water cooler on Monday. Only when they see Verdugo’s name in Tuesday’s lineup card for the first of a three-game set with Cleveland at Yankee Stadium will they (over)react to Dominguez having been sent down to the minors after his one-night only outing.
At least until the September 1 roster expansion.