Domínguez heads back to the IL

Domínguez heads back to the IL

On Sunday afternoon, YES Network writer and former Scranton beat reporter Conor Foley reported some ominous news for Yankees fans. Slugging outfield prospect Jasson Domínguez is on his way to the 7-day injured list, per the RailRiders’ own announcement. The Yankees later promised an injury update on Domínguez from manager Aaron Boone, and he told the media that the 21-year-old had suffered a “left side injury” following a check swing on Saturday night. He departed the game and will undergo testing.

This is the part where the entirety of Yankees Universe lets out a monumental collective groan or sigh.

After coming back from Tommy John surgery, completing his rehab assignment, being activated from the 60-day injured list and then being optioned to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre due to the team’s crowded (and successful) outfield, another setback has presented itself to Domínguez on a somewhat innocuous play. As noted, he played six innings of the game in which the injury happened, but he was pulled in the seventh inning after going 1-for-3 at the plate.

To no one’s surprise, Domínguez was utterly fantastic in the majority of games he played at all the minor league levels. In his four games at Low-A Tampa, he mashed and got on base, holding a slash line of .389/.529/.462. He did the same at Double and Triple-A, as triple slashes of .316/.350/.632 and .389/.405/.639 at those levels respectively put him well on his way to making a return to The Bronx in the near-future. It was not difficult to envision a scenario where one of Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo, Juan Soto, or most of all, Giancarlo Stanton, pulled something and needed an IL stint. Domínguez would almost certainly receive the first call if a regular got hurt.

However, it was not meant to be at this point. Boone seemed to reference the possibility of an oblique injury, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.

Obliques are notoriously tricky, so if it is indeed an oblique injury, then he could be out for awhile. It would obviously depend on the severity of the strain, though.

That being said, there are still question marks as to what the injury actually is and the timetable for his return. There’s one thing for certain: having Domínguez on the Yankees’ active depth chart would have made them an even more dangerous team, so this injury hurts both the short- and long-term goals.