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BOSTON — Jasson Dominguez’s first eight games as a big-leaguer made it easy to envision him arriving at spring training next year with a chance to win a job in the Yankees’ outfield.
Now his ninth game may not come until the middle of next season at the earliest, clouding his and the Yankees’ short-term outlook in center field.
As of Monday, a day after being diagnosed with a torn UCL in his right elbow, Dominguez was still gathering information from doctors and no surgery had been scheduled.
Asked whether Dominguez was deciding between Tommy John surgery or alternative UCL surgery like an internal brace procedure, manager Aaron Boone said he did not know.
“I think he’s getting a handful of looks at it,” Boone said before the Yankees’ series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park was postponed because of rain.
Boone had said on Sunday that the normal recovery time from Tommy John surgery for a position player was nine to 10 months, which could line Dominguez up to be back around June or July.
Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani have both come back earlier than that timeline in recent years, though they returned as designated hitters and the Yankees are likely to be more cautious with Dominguez, who turns 21 in February.
“With any injury, there’s always wiggle room,” Boone said Monday. “I think it’s when he’s ready. That’ll be determined by how it’s going, what the doctors are saying. So I don’t think age has anything to do with it in regards to — when he’s ready to play, he’s ready.”
Having the internal brace procedure instead of Tommy John surgery could possibly provide Dominguez a path to returning sooner — earlier this season, Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story came back from it in almost exactly seven months — but Dominguez was still going through his options.
While the UCL injury is not expected to be a concern for Dominguez’s long-term outlook, it certainly makes his short-term future murkier.
Part of the Yankees’ decision to call up the prized prospect on Sept. 1 was to gather information for next year in terms of whether he might be an option to break camp with them.
Now, Dominguez will likely be robbed of a normal spring training, making his role for the big-league team next year (whenever he is healthy) uncertain and increasing the likelihood of the Yankees adding at least a stopgap center fielder.
But Dominguez did his best to make a strong impression over his eight games with the Yankees, batting .258 with four home runs and a .980 OPS and showing off his poise.
“Look, he’s had a really strong year and obviously come up and had a really good week of success,” Boone said. “Everyone’s excited about his future and what he can be. Let’s get [surgery] done and see how he returns. He’ll be ready when he’s ready.”
While their situations were slightly different, Gleyber Torres could commiserate with Dominguez. Torres tore the UCL in his left (non-throwing) elbow in June of 2017 while at Triple-A and potentially on the verge of his big-league debut. He underwent Tommy John surgery on June 21 and began 2018 back at Triple-A before being called up to make his MLB debut on April 22.
“It’s hard. It’s painful, for sure,” Torres said Monday. “I talked a little bit with him and explained how the recovery went. It was a different arm, but basically the same injury. It’s tough, but the mentality is just recover well, be healthy.”
Torres said he felt “horrible” about having to undergo Tommy John surgery so close to getting a shot with the Yankees and expected that Dominguez was feeling the same way after an eight-game tease in the big leagues.
“I believe he’s going to be coming [back] stronger than ever and just healthy,” Torres said. “The important thing for us and especially to me is he showed what he can do in just [eight] games. He’s a special player. He’s got special talent. I hope we can see Jasson for part of next year.”
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