Tag Archives: Jasson Dominguez

May 10, 2025

Best Batter Today

Aaron Judge of the Yankees stays atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, but falls below .400 as he posted a one for four with a double and a walk in a 10-2 win over the Athletics. His BA drops under .400 to .396. His teammate, Jasson Dominguez posted the best game score of the day, an 88. He went three for four, all three hits home runs, and drove in seven runs. Thirteen of his 27 hits this season went for extra bases.

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers cuts Judge’s lead to nine points after three for six night in a 14-11 win over the Diamondbacks. He collected two doubles and a home run, the homer ending the scoring in a six run ninth that erased a three run deficit. His teammate, Freddie Freeman went two for four with a double and sacrifice fly to rank fifth.

Cal Raleigh of the Mariners went one for three with a walk in a 6-3 Blue Jays win for third place. Juan Soto of the Mets moves back into the top five with a two for four night with a walk and a home run. Seven of his eleven hits in May went for extra bases. The Mets beat the Cubs 7-2.

March 27, 2025

Catcher Leadoff

The Yankees posted their opening day lineup and catcher Austin Wells bats leadoff, and the plan is to use him in this slot against right handed pitchers. Is this a good strategy? Wells does bat better against righties than lefties. In his brief career, however, his OBP vs. LHP is .319. That’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. If the idea is to put a man on for Judge, New York could probably do better.

Teams have tried this with other catchers, but a problem arises in home games. It takes the catcher some time to remove his gear, giving him less time in the on deck circle to prepare for his opening PA, and this tended to derail the experiment. I remember the Pirates trying this with Jason Kendall. They got some good milage out of that, but wound up getting better production when he batted third.

I would bat Wells ninth, making him a secondary leadoff hitter as the lineup makes the turn. The Yankees could use Jasson Dominguez showing the on-base prowess of this minor league career. Then they could bat a switch hitter at the top and not worry about platooning.

September 10, 2023

Jasson, We Hardly Knew Ye

2 Replies

Rookie sensation Jasson Dominguez tore his UCL:

Aaron Boone said Dominguez reported soreness in the elbow as far back as his first series in Houston, but it didn’t impact him at the plate until he was taking batting practice Sunday.

He is expected to be out for 9-10 months.
NYPost.com

Bryce Harper showed hitters can come back from this injury quickly, and youth in on Dominguez’s side in this regard. Of course, the Yankees may not want him as a designated hitter, since they have plenty of people on that team better suited to that role. I could see him DH’ing in the minors until he can throw again, which may mean he might not be back with the Yankees until 2025.

Correction: I mistakenly typed 2024 in the original post.

September 2, 2023

Fast is About Time

1 Reply

Despite what the news articles say, Aaron Judge is not the fastest player to 250 home runs:

In terms of games played, Judge (810) is the fastest player in major league history to that milestone, besting Ryan Howard (855).
NYPost.com

Judge came to the majors at seasonal age 24, just like Ryan Howard. Both started their MLB careers very close to their primes, so there was not learning period. Ken Griffey Jr.hit 132 home runs before his age 24 season. Alex Rodriguez hit 148 home runs before his age 24 season. Mike Trout hit 139 home runs before his age 24 season.

Judge is certainly a great home run hitter, but like Howard, he does not have the time left in his career to put up extraordinary numbers. Like Trout, like Griffey, like Pujols, age will take a toll on Judge.

On the other hand, Jasson Dominguez is well ahead of Judge’s pace.