Jasson Domínguez replaces Trent Grisham, homers in Yankees’ win over Blue Jays
· Yahoo Sports
TORONTO — Trent Grisham and the Yankees hoped that a good night’s rest would keep him off the shelf.
Instead, the club placed the center fielder on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain before Saturday’s series-tying, 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. Jasson Domínguez, in the midst of a rehab assignment for an AC joint sprain, was activated in a corresponding move.
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“I wanna be precautionary with it and see how it heals up,” said Grisham, who did some light jogging and worked out prior to Saturday’s game.
Grisham, expected to undergo testing in New York on Monday, added that he wasn’t sure when he could return from his injury.
“We felt like it was going to be at least several days here,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously, a great sign that, right away, he’s up moving around, so hopefully it’s something that’s not a long-term thing, but we felt like the 10 days was probably necessary.”
Grisham hurt himself after hitting a two-run single and rounding first in the sixth inning of Friday’s loss to Toronto. He was immediately taken out of the game.
The veteran has been one of the Yankees’ hottest hitters lately. While Grisham didn’t get many positive results earlier in the season, he’s hit .306 with three homers with 15 RBIs and an .853 OPS over his last 30 games.
Grisham is the latest Yankee to join a list of injured players that has grown in recent weeks. He joins fellow outfielder Aaron Judge (fractured rib), catcher Austin Wells (headaches), starter Max Fried (bone bruise) and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (calf), the latter of which had a setback earlier this week.
“It’s just the cost of doing business sometimes,” Grisham said of all the aches and pains. “Sometimes they come in bunches, sometimes they don’t happen at all.”
“We’ve lost some key people, but it’s part of it,” Boone added. “The 162 is coming for you, and the one thing is I feel we’re way more equipped to deal with it than we have been in some years. It’s a great opportunity for some of our young players to get real opportunities.”
One of them, Domínguez, hit a solo home run in the fourth inning of Saturday’s win. That was the only hit the Yankees managed off Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who totaled six innings, but Paul Goldschmidt followed up with a go-ahead, two-run blast in the ninth inning after Cam Schlittler grinded through seven frames of one-run ball.
“Every time you can come and help the team win, it’s awesome,” said Domínguez, who found out he was being activated at 11:30 on Friday night, flew to Toronto at 10:50 on Saturday morning, and arrived at Rogers Centre around 2 p.m. “It was a long day for me, but that was all that was on my mind.”
Domínguez added that his bats got held up at the airport, and that he didn’t have much time to prepare before the game. Asked what he was able to accomplish pregame, he said, “four shots of espresso, two Red Bulls, and one pre-workout later, I was ready.”
Domínguez, who finished the day 1 for 4 with a strikeout, initially planned on continuing his rehab assignment through the weekend. The Yankees wanted him to build up more and continue to take reps in right field, something The Martian began doing after Judge went on the IL.
While Domínguez had only played center and left in the majors, the Yankees figured it wouldn’t hurt to have him experiment in right with Judge sidelined and Cody Bellinger playing the best defense of any left fielder in baseball.
“It feels pretty good,” Domínguez, who has been a limited defender in left, said of right field. “It feels better than left field when I started.”
On Saturday, Domínguez made his first big league start in right field and batted second. Bellinger manned left, while Spencer Jones played center.
“The way I have the alignment today could evolve here over the next several days, but by all accounts, the last few days have gone really well in how he’s taken to it, so I just feel like I want to give it a look,” Boone said when asked about Domínguez playing right. “Hopefully this alignment is something that can work for us here in the near-term, but it’s something I’ll be paying attention to, and it doesn’t mean I won’t flip some things as we go.”
The switch-hitting Domínguez, 23, began the season at Triple-A. He hit .200 with a .617 OPS, one homer and four RBIs over nine major league games before getting hurt.
With Domínguez expected to play some right and Grisham out, Jones can now get an extended look in the middle of the Yankees’ outfield. The speedy youngster has the potential to be a defensive upgrade over Grisham, as the two-time Gold Glover is rather slow for a center fielder.
“He’s done a good job,” Boone said of Jones’ defense. “He’s racked up a lot of games in the corners over the years, too, as well as, obviously, primarily playing in center, so I feel like he’s more than capable out there.”
Jones has also looked more comfortable at the plate since being recalled in place of Judge. While the 25-year-old struggled after his first call-up, which came after Domínguez’s injury, Jones was hitting .429 with one double, one homer and three RBIs over five games since returning to the majors before going 0 for 4 with a strikeout on Saturday.
“I’ve been pleased,” Boone said. “Even the first go-around, when he didn’t get a lot of results, I feel like he was having, for the most part, competitive at-bats every day. There’s going to be some swing and miss there, but if he’s controlling the strike zone, then he’s really dangerous because of his ability to impact the ball.”