Jasson Domínguez (/ˈsən/; born February 7, 2003), nicknamed El Marciano or the Martian, is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He signed with the Yankees in 2019, and made his MLB debut in 2023.

Jasson Domínguez
Domínguez with the Somerset Patriots in 2022
New York Yankees – No. 89
Outfielder
Born: (2003-02-07) February 7, 2003 (age 21)
Esperanza, Dominican Republic
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 2023, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.207
Home runs6
Runs batted in11
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Early life

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Domínguez was born in Esperanza, a municipality of the Valverde Province in the Dominican Republic on February 7, 2003.[1] He is the second of six children born to Félix Domínguez and Dorca González. Félix is a former baseball player and a fan of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Félix named his son after Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi.[2]

Domínguez began to train for a career in baseball at the age of eight.[3] He signed with trainer Iván Noboa at age 13.[2] Domínguez played as a catcher before transitioning into a center fielder.[4] He is considered to be a five-tool player.[5] During his training, someone referred to him as "El Marciano", Spanish for "the Martian", because his talent was not of this world.[2] Several workout videos that he posted on social media went viral,[6] earning him comparisons to Mickey Mantle, Bo Jackson, and Mike Trout.[7]

Baseball career

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Minor leagues

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Domínguez in 2020

MLB.com ranked Domínguez as the top prospect eligible to sign with an MLB team in the 2019–2020 international class.[8] He signed with the Yankees for a franchise record $5.1 million signing bonus on July 2, 2019,[9] receiving the majority of the Yankees' $5.4 million total allotment for international signings for the year.[10][11] He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league baseball season resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and instead trained at a baseball academy in Santiago.[12][13]

Domínguez began the 2021 season in extended spring training.[14] In June, he made his professional baseball debut with the Florida Complex League Yankees of the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. He was selected to represent the Yankees in the 2021 All-Star Futures Game. Domínguez became the first prospect to appear in the All-Star Futures Game without having played a full-season in the minor league.[15] The Yankees promoted Domínguez to the Tampa Tarpons of the Low-A Southeast League after the Futures Game; he had batted 4-for-20 (.200) with six strikeouts and six walks in the Florida Complex League.[16] Domínguez batted .258 with five home runs and 18 runs batted in (RBIs) in 49 games played.[17]

Domínguez began the 2022 season with Tampa.[18] He appeared in the 2022 All-Star Futures Game, and was then promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades of the High-A South Atlantic League.[19][20] When Hudson Valley's season ended, the Yankees promoted Domínguez to the Somerset Patriots of the Double-A Eastern League for their last few regular season games and their postseason.[21]

In 2023, the Yankees invited Domínguez to spring training as a non-roster player[22] and assigned him to Somerset to begin the season.[23] The Yankees promoted him to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple–A International League on August 22.[24] After the season, he won the Eastern League Top MLB Prospect Award.[25]

New York Yankees

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On September 1, 2023, the Yankees promoted Domínguez to the major leagues.[26] He made his major league debut that day against the Houston Astros and hit a home run off the first swing in his first at bat against Justin Verlander. With that home run, Domínguez became the youngest player in team history to hit a home run in his major league debut and surpassed Whitey Lockman as the youngest in MLB history to do so in their first plate appearance.[27] He hit four home runs in eight games.[28] On September 10, Domínguez was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, requiring Tommy John surgery, ending his season 9 days after promotion.[29]

Domínguez began the 2024 season on the 60-day injured list to continue recovery from elbow surgery.[30] After a rehabilitation assignment began in May, the Yankees activated Domínguez from the injured list and optioned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 12.[31] However, on June 20, manager Aaron Boone announced that Domínguez would be out up to eight weeks after suffering a "pretty significant" oblique strain.[32] He returned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 26.[33]

On August 18, the Yankees selected Domínguez as their 27th man for the Little League Classic; he batted 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and returned to the RailRiders after the game.[34] On September 9, the Yankees promoted Domínguez to the major league roster.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Neró, Nathanael Pérez. "Domínguez, la joya más cara de Julio 2: "Estoy preparado para asumir el reto"". Diario Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Passan, Jeff (July 1, 2019). "The legend of The Martian, the Yankees' $5 million, 16-year-old, international coup". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  3. ^ "Jasson Dominguez is ready for liftoff". Mlb.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Martin, Dan (July 2, 2019). "Yankees expected to sign international prospect Jasson Dominguez". Nypost.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "Jasson Dominguez guide". Mlb.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "Yankees Jasson Dominguez is huge". Mlb.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  7. ^ NJ.com, Mike Rosenstein | NJ Advance Media for (February 21, 2020). "Yankees' top hitting prospect draws comparisons to Mike Trout, Mickey Mantle, Bo Jackson". NJ.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "MLB.com 2019 Prospect Watch | MLB.com". M.mlb.com. May 24, 2013. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Caldera, Pete (July 2, 2019). "Too good to be true? That's what the Yankees wondered about Jasson Dominguez". North Jersey Media Group. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Wagner, James (July 2, 2019). "'This One Was Worth It': Yankees Set Record With Jasson Dominguez Signing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  11. ^ Martin, Dan (July 2, 2019). "Yankees going all in with prospect Jasson Dominguez". Nypost.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  12. ^ Martin, Dan (May 30, 2020). "Yankees deprived of watching $5 million phenom Jasson Dominguez". Nypost.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  13. ^ Sanchez, Jesse (February 7, 2021). "Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez unfazed". MLB.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  14. ^ Miller, Randy (June 29, 2021). "Yankees hoping hype fuels Jasson Dominguez, whose career is finally underway". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  15. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (June 29, 2021). "Jasson Dominguez Futures Game for Yankees top prospect". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  16. ^ Miller, Randy (July 13, 2021). "Yankees promote Jasson Dominguez, who hopes to be in majors in '3 to 4 years'". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  17. ^ Hoch, Bryan (January 13, 2022). "'He's an anomaly': Dominguez turning heads". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Miller, Randy (April 5, 2022). "Takeaways on Yankees' minor-league rosters: Latest on Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, Anthony Seigler, more". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  19. ^ Goodman, Max (July 16, 2022). "New York Yankees Prospect Jasson Dominguez Crushes Home Run in 2022 All-Star Futures Game - Sports Illustrated NY Yankees News, Analysis and More". Si.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  20. ^ Miller, Randy (July 23, 2022). "Yankees' Jasson Dominguez homers, puts on show in High-A Hudson Valley Renegades debut". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  21. ^ "Yankees Promote Jasson Dominguez and Tyler Hardman to Double-A Somerset". MiLB.com. September 13, 2022. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  22. ^ Svoboda, Dylan (February 25, 2023). "Jasson Dominguez homers in spring training debut for Yankees". New York Post. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  23. ^ Ashmore, Mike (April 7, 2023). "How Yankees mega-prospect Jasson Dominguez is impressing before the Somerset season starts". My Central Jersey. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  24. ^ Phillips, Gary (August 22, 2023). "With Everson Pereira in the majors, other Yankees prospects await their opportunity". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  25. ^ Trezza, Joe. "The 2023 Double-A All-Stars and Award Winners". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  26. ^ Miller, Randy (September 1, 2023). "How Jasson Dominguez wowed Yankees and handled hype to earn 1st call-up at age 20". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  27. ^ "Jasson Domínguez becomes youngest Yankee to homer in first at-bat". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 1, 2023. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  28. ^ "Injuries & Moves: Florial up with Domínguez on IL". MLB.com. September 11, 2023. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  29. ^ Hoch, Bryan (September 10, 2023). "Domínguez out for season with torn UCL". MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  30. ^ Goodman, Max (April 27, 2024). "Yankees' Jasson Domínguez close to playing in games, but how does he fit when healthy?". NJ.com. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  31. ^ McDonald, Darragh (April 20, 2023). "Yankees Reinstate, Option Jasson Domínguez". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  32. ^ Joyce, Greg (June 20, 2024). "Jasson Dominguez out up two months as Yankees return crushed by new injury". New York Post. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  33. ^ "Yankees GM explains why a Jasson Domínguez call-up is unlikely: 'There's currently no lane for us'". CBSSports.com. August 11, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  34. ^ "Yanks promote Domínguez for Little League Classic". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  35. ^ "The Martian is back! Yanks call up top prospect Domínguez". MLB.com. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
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