Yankees' Jasson Dominguez ready to begin rehab assignment

  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jasson Dominguez’s rehab from Tommy John surgery has proceeded without any significant setbacks. The latest sign: The Yankees’ top position prospect is ready to begin a rehab assignment in the upcoming week.

Before Saturday’s game against the Rays, Aaron Boone said Dominguez, who had a terrific start to his big-league career last September before that stretch ended after eight games because of a UCL tear in his right elbow, is slated to start a rehab assignment “Tuesday or Wednesday” with Class A Tampa.

Boone said Dominguez, 21, probably will DH for the first two weeks of the rehab assignment, the entirety of which won't be spent with Tampa (he’ll likely see time with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre).

“It seems like there’s been very few hiccups along the way,” Boone said of Dominguez’s rehab. “It’s been smooth. He hasn’t been rushed.”

Dominguez, who has been rehabbing at the club’s minor-league complex since camp broke at the end of March, threw to bases for the first time in his rehab on Saturday, among the final hurdles for him to clear before being declared ready for games. When the outfielder does play in his first rehab game, that officially will begin his 30-day clock, at the end of which the Yankees will have to decide whether to add him to the big-league roster or stow him in Triple-A, where he would play every day.

 Alex Verdugo, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto — the regulars in the Yankees' outfield — aren't going anywhere. Reserve Trent Grisham, obviously, is the most vulnerable of the outfielders to lose his spot, though 30 days is an eternity in the 162-game season.

But assuming health for all involved, Dominguez, who played all of nine games in Triple-A last season before his promotion as a Sept. 1 call-up, likely will be Scranton-bound, at least at the start.

“Hopefully it is a tough decision at that point because good things are happening here,” Boone said. “Cross that bridge when we get there.”

Cole takes another step

Gerrit Cole, who started the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, threw a bullpen session for the third time in his rehab on Saturday after sessions  the previous Saturday and last Tuesday. The righthander said he mixed in 13 breaking balls in the 29-pitch session rather than just fastballs, the case his first two times back on a mound.

“It looked pretty good,” Cole said. “Fastball profiles were good and location was good and the velocity was where we wanted it. A lot of strikes.”

There remains no public time frame for the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner to rejoin the rotation, though from the time Cole was diagnosed with the inflammation in mid-March, the organization would have signed on the dotted line for a July 1 return, a date that remains very much in play.

Kahnle almost ready

Righthander Tommy Kahnle, making his second of what he hopes is five rehab appearances before getting activated from the IL, struck out one in a perfect inning Saturday afternoon with Class A Tampa. He will continue the rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset and could rejoin the Yankees toward the end of their next homestand, which is May 17-23.