Should the Yankees call up Jasson Domínguez and start him over Alex Verdugo?

NEW YORK — On Friday, top New York Yankees prospect Jasson Domínguez was with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, starting in left field and batting second.

On Sunday, Major League Baseball active rosters will expand from 26 players to 28. That would allow the Yankees to call up Domínguez without needing to kick someone else out to make room for him.

Will they do it?

“I don’t know,” manager Aaron Boone said before Friday’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium. “We’ll see. We haven’t made that decision. So, I don’t know.”

But should they call up Domínguez? The Athletic’s Yankees beat reporters Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty discuss.

Should the Yankees call up Domínguez?

Kirschner: This should be an obvious decision given the options available to the club. The answer is a resounding yes. He may be a difference-maker for the Yankees down the stretch and into October.

Left field has been one of the weakest positions for the Yankees this year. Going into Friday, their combined 84 wRC+ ranked 24th in MLB. Defensively, they were 13th among all teams in outs above average in left field. And they were last in Statcast’s baserunning above average. The bar would be low for Domínguez to prove that he could outperform what the Yankees have already received from left fielders this year.

The Yankees will likely be cautious about how much Domínguez plays if he is called up, as they’ll want to ensure he retains his rookie status for 2025. He needs to stay under the career 130 at-bat threshold to be considered a rookie next year (Domínguez has 35 career at-bats). If he wins Rookie of the Year in 2025, the Yankees would receive a conditional draft pick at the end of the first round.

There’s no downside. They need to see if Domínguez can win the everyday left-field job.

Kuty: You make compelling points, Chris. I’ll play Devil’s Advocate.

Would calling up Domínguez and giving him a month-long audition be exciting? Absolutely. Could you also argue that it may be impractical? Perhaps.

There’s no guarantee Domínguez would arrive in the Bronx and immediately put on the show he did in his debut last year, hitting four home runs with a .980 OPS in eight games before tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. That was electric. It would also be asking a lot.

Last year, when Domínguez broke into the majors on Sept. 1, the Yankees were hardly in contention. They were three games under .500. They were 17 1/2 games back in the AL East. The Yankees talked like they were still going for it, but a playoff-less October felt like a near inevitability. There was little pressure for Domínguez.

This would be different. Could he handle it? He absolutely could. He’s handled all the hype that came with his franchise-record $5.1 million signing bonus at age 16. But there’s no denying it would be a lot to put on the shoulders of the 21-year-old. Not to mention our next question …

If they called him up, what happens to the roster?

Kirschner: Yankees manager Aaron Boone said if Domínguez were to be called up, they would ideally want him playing regularly to not stunt his development. That would mean Alex Verdugo would lose his starting job. It may also mean Trent Grisham gets pushed down further on the depth chart. On the days Aaron Judge started as the team’s designated hitter, Domínguez could start in center field.

Maybe the Yankees wouldn’t want to ruffle the clubhouse by replacing Verdugo — whom Judge personally advocated trading for this offseason and in years prior — to start a rookie. But Verdugo has had nearly a season’s worth of games to prove he shouldn’t compete with a rookie for his job, and he’s failed.

He’s graded out as a negative offensively, on the base paths and public advanced defensive metrics are split on his value. Is that not enough for the organization to believe it may be able to do better by trying someone different? And if Domínguez doesn’t work out over the next month, well, they’ve remained in first place with Verdugo being one of MLB’s worst everyday position players.

There seems to be a higher likelihood of Domínguez being a more impactful player than Verdugo in October.

Kuty: I could see that. You certainly could argue that Domínguez has a higher ceiling offensively than Verdugo — even in the short term. There’s no sugarcoating it: The 28-year-old has not been what the Yankees expected at the plate.

The Devil’s Advocate argument, though, would be that Verdugo has actually looked like a strong and, at times, excellent defensive left fielder. He’s had a few memorable gaffes, but he’s also someone I think makes just about all the routine plays, sacrifices his body and has a heck of an arm. Plus, he’d be much more familiar with the position than Domínguez when it’s crunch time in October.

If the Yankees were to promote Domínguez and bench Verdugo, I think there would be a non-zero chance the team could designate Trent Grisham for assignment and have Verdugo take over his role as fourth outfielder.

Understanding that it’s a small sample, Verdugo has looked a bit better at the plate lately. Entering Friday, he was on a five-game hitting streak (.421 BA, 1.029 OPS), which coincided with when he switched to batting gloves made with materials that stopped causing allergic reactions on his skin. Verdugo struck out in all three of his at-bats Friday night.

As for the clubhouse, I think it would handle the move fine. Like you said, Verdugo has had plenty of time to prove himself, and it’s not like they would be replacing him with a nobody.

What do we think happens?

It’s not a slam dunk that Domínguez will be the choice on Sunday. If the Yankees decide to make an internal move, Domínguez is likely the candidate.

However, the Yankees could opt for an external candidate. The St. Louis Cardinals designated Tommy Pham for assignment on Friday. If the Yankees are looking for a platoon partner for Verdugo, signing Pham might be a good move. Pham has a .762 OPS this year against left-handed pitching, whereas Verdugo had a .609 OPS against lefties entering Friday. Another external option would be Robbie Grossman, whom the Texas Rangers designated for assignment on Thursday. Grossman’s OPS against lefties is .819 OPS this season and .809 for his career.

All season, the Yankees have lauded Verdugo for his bat-to-ball skills. If they wanted to keep playing him often, having a platoon partner could be the best way to maximize his production.

(Photo of Jasson Domínguez: Cliff Welch / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)