Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez impressing with skill set, intangibles 

TAMPA, Fla. – Anthony Volpe is the higher ranked – slightly – Yankees prospect.

But Jasson Dominguez is the most hyped.

By far.

The 19-year-old centerfielder, to whom the Yankees gave a franchise-record $5.1 million signing bonus at the age of 16 out of the Dominican Republic in July 2019, was quickly tagged with the memorable nickname "The Martian" – think out-of-this-world skill set – and has been called an "anomaly" by general manager Brian Cashman.

"Something that doesn’t really come along very often," Cashman said in early December. shortly after MLB instituted its lockout of players. "There’s a lot of very talented people, he happens to have a higher degree of talent than most. If you can put that together and add the performance, you’re talking about something very special."

Dominguez – generally considered by evaluators as the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect behind Volpe – provided glimpses last season when he made his professional debut (the coronavirus pandemic kept him from debuting in 2020 as there were no minor league games that year).

After seven games in the Florida Complex League – which is for rookies – the Yankees elevated him to Low-A Tampa, where the switch hitter hit .258 with five homers, 18 RBIs and a .744 OPS in 49 games (he started switch hitting at 8 years old).

Dominguez, meeting with a small group of reporters Wednesday at the minor league complex, insisted on doing the interview in English, relying only occasionally on Hector Gonzalez, who works in player development, standing by as his interpreter, if needed.

"At the beginning, it felt really fast, the game was fast," Dominguez said of being thrust so quickly into A-level ball. "Obviously, you had to slow it down. With a little bit of time [I] was able to."

Behind the scenes Dominguez has impressed the Yankees not only with his talent but, according to Rachel Balkovec, the first-year manager for Low-A Tampa where the outfielder is likely to start the season, also plenty of intangibles, particularly his work ethic.

"He's a really intelligent kid who wants the information and wants to know why and asks questions, he’s is a critical thinker," said Balkovec, who made history in January when she was named the first female manager in affiliated professional baseball (she had already been in the Yankees’ organization as a hitting instructor). "So I always say, what sticks out to me [are] the things that you can't see on the field,, which is just his aptitude and his ability to really think critically about things."

As for the on-field skill set, first-year hitting coach Dillon Lawson mentioned Dominguez’s "size, speed, athleticism and explosiveness," but, like Balkovec, mentioned off-the-field attributes.

"What we have, what we’re able to do is we can see him beyond that and that’s what stands out – him as a person, his work ethic, his leadership skills, those things really do stand out," Lawson said. "It’s not just an athlete, there’s the whole package."

Dominguez, who said with a smile that he "really likes" the Martian nickname, has high expectations for himself, saying "in a perfect world," he’ll reach the big leagues by the time he’s "20 or 21."

But first comes this season, one in which he’ll try to further his development amid all of the hype that has already reached ridiculous levels on the outside with some (though no one with the Yankees) making comparisons to the likes of Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout.

"It feels really good to be compared to some of those guys," Dominguez said [this time helped a bit by his interpreter]. "Obviously, I would like to be as good or even better than some of them, but I understand it’s a long road until I can get to that point, but I feel good."

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.