Jasson Domínguez is staying at Triple-A.
That’s not a surprise, but it is official after the Yankees returned their top prospect from his rehab assignment on Wednesday. In doing so, the team reinstated Domínguez from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Jon Berti (calf strain) was transferred to the 60-day IL to make space for Domínguez on the 40-man roster.
These were largely procedural moves, as Domínguez, returning from UCL surgery, was expected to remain in the minors once his rehab assignment ended. While the 21-year-old has been sensational since getting back into games, the Yankees want him to play every day and have a set starting outfield with Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo.
“When it’s his time, we’ll be excited for that because we know what kind of impact he can have,” Aaron Boone recently said of Domínguez. “But we’re not going to rush that either. It will be when it’s right.
“The time he’s gonna come up here, he’s gonna play. So that avenue is gonna have to be there.”
Dominguez hit .368/.415/.658 with six home runs and 13 RBI over his first 20 games in the minors this season. That included a .440/.440/.800 slash line and two home runs over his first six games with the Triple-A RailRiders.
The outfielder added a single in Wednesday’s win over the Rochester Red Wings.
Cole’s Next Start
Boone told reporters that Gerrit Cole will meet Domínguez in Rochester on Friday, per NJ.com’s Max Goodman. Cole (elbow inflammation) is having his own rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A after two starts with Double-A Somerset.
Cole allowed one earned run, walked none and struck out nine over eight innings in those two starts. He totaled 57 pitches in his most recent outing on Sunday.
Asked if this Friday’s start would be the last one of Cole’s rehab assignment, Boone said, “We’ll see.”
Scheduling Change
The Yankees and Red Sox will start their first series of the season a bit sooner than expected, as their Friday opener at Fenway Park has been moved from 7:10 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. In announcing the switch, the Red Sox said that they wanted to give Bostonians a chance to watch the Celtics play the Mavericks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
That game is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas on Friday.
