Jasson

Domínguez

Domínguez became expendable for New York after picking up corner outfielder Heliot Ramos from the Giants at the trade deadline. The 23-year-old former top prospect heads back to the minors with Spencer Jones remaining up with the big club.

Left-hander Henry LaLane will be part of the return, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. This doesn’t seem great for Ramos. He might play regularly for now, but if things work out for the Yankees, he’ll finish the season starting primarily against lefties. It’ll be interesting to see if the team sends down Jasson Domínguez here (assuming he’s not in the trade) or maybe gives up on Amed Rosario. Ramos’s departure will leave the Giants even more punchless for now, but as a bad defensive corner outfielder probably best utilized as a DH, he didn’t seem like a long-term fit alongside Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge.

The one hit would have been a triple in a scoreless game leading off the sixth, but Domínguez badly overslid the bag at third, despite it not being a close play, and was tagged out. He was credited with a double, but it probably would have been a better day for him if he had just struck out again instead. He’s hitting .226/.268/.340 in 56 plate appearances during the second half.

Anthony Volpe then singled in Domínguez to make it 2-0. Domínguez also went 1-for-4 with a walk in game one. He’s not embarrassing himself in hitting .232/.270/.394 in 164 plate appearances, but he’s still not showing much in the way of upside at the plate, and it’s hard to say what the Yankees could realistically expect to get for him if they make him available at the deadline.

Domínguez was solely responsible for the Yankees only run against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers’ bullpen in this one. He smoked a double to right-center in the fourth inning that Andy Pages bobbled, which let Domínguez get to third. Then, Dalton Rushing let a forkball clank off his glove and Domínguez scampered home on the pass ball. He’s played everyday for a month straight and has four home runs and six stolen bases despite a lowly .679 OPS over his last 30 games.

Dominguez took a Zack Littell sinker out to right-center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning, then singled and scored in the ninth inning on Jazz Chisholm’s homer. The 23-year-old is now hitting .346/.393/.615 in his last seven games with two homers and a stolen base. He’s not exactly a must-roster at this point, but he’s a talented player getting a real chance with Aaron Judge out, and he may be getting hot at the right time.

Domínguez’s homer, his fourth in 108 plate appearances this season, would have been a double most days, but this was still a really nice game, as he delivered hard-hit balls all five times up. He entered the day 3-for-21 with no extra-base hits in his last six games. With Spencer Jones going back to Triple-A, Domínguez seems set to play pretty regularly until Aaron Judge returns. He hasn’t offered much mixed-league value yet, but he still might for a spell.

Chisholm took the brunt of the collision when Domínguez ran through him while attempting to field a pop-up in shallow right field, making contact with his head. It appeared Domínguez either didn’t call him off or Chisholm didn’t hear the call in time. The 28-year-old second baseman was able to walk off the field under his own power and didn’t lose consciousness on the play. He’ll undergo evaluation for a possible concussion. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

The Yankees struggled to muster any offense against Payton Tolle and the Red Sox’s bullpen in this one. They wound up with just three total hits and the only two that went for extra-bases – Domínguez’s double and another from Anthony Volpe – came after Tolle left the game. Regardless, Domínguez has hit safely in four straight games and is not only an everyday player for the Yankees right now, but consistently in prominent spots in their lineup.

Jones has seen his playing time slashed since Jasson Domínguez returned to New York’s outfield mix last week, starting just five times in eight games during that span. The 25-year-old’s all-or-nothing approach has yielded a pair of spectacular moonshots and a sky-high 40.6 percent strikeout rate across 64 plate appearances at the highest level this season.