Top Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez was called up prior to Friday's game against the Astros and inserted into the lineup for his MLB debut. He was tasked with facing future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. Let's just say he was ready. This is the first swing he ever took in a major-league game:
The family shots after those are always so cool and that certainly didn't disappoint. There's a bit more on this highlight:
Dominguez is only 20 years old. At 20 years and 206 days, he's the youngest player in Yankees history to homer in his debut and he's the youngest Yankees player, period, to hit a home run since Bobby Murcer went deep at age 19 in 1965. The last Yankees player to homer in his first career at-bat was -- this'll shock you -- Aaron Judge on Aug. 13, 2016.
Dominguez, now nicknamed "The Martian," signed with the Yankees for $5 million out of the Dominican Republic several years back and was thrown some unfair comparisons in the process. We'll just say that he's been heavily hyped for years. In 118 games between Double-A and Triple-A this season, he hit .265/.377/.425 with 15 homers and 40 stolen bases.
Before the game Friday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated that Dominguez is now the Yankees' everyday center fielder. Given that Harrison Bader is gone for Cincinnati and the Yankees aren't contenders, it makes all the sense in the world to just stick the kid out there and let him develop for a month at the big-league level.
He got his career off to quite a start on Friday.
