TORONTO — Another night, another injury scare for the Yankees. When Trent Grisham pulled up lame on the basepaths Friday, the immediate assumption was that a healthy outfielder waiting in the wings would simply slide into his spot. The reality is more complicated than that.
Jasson Dominguez is the one who they called up. However, he may not be the player who actually takes over Grisham’s job.
The Yankees are bracing for the possibility of losing one of their hottest hitters, and the way they would patch the hole reveals just how creative their outfield math has become.
Grisham goes down at the worst time
The injury hit the Yankees in the middle of their 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays. After lining a two-run single in the sixth inning, Grisham took second base on the throw home and immediately felt his right hamstring grab.
He began walking off the field almost at once and was replaced by a pinch-runner, leaving with what the team called right hamstring tightness. Grisham said he sensed something while rounding first and was cautious about predicting the outcome. He is hoping to avoid a stint on the shelf.
“We’ll see where it wakes up Saturday,” Grisham said. “Hopefully, it’s good news, no IL, but we’ll see.”
A brutal blow to a red-hot bat
The timing could hardly be worse for the Yankees. Grisham has been one of their most productive hitters for weeks, making any absence a significant loss.
Entering Friday, he was batting .377 with a 1.014 OPS over his last 18 games, reaching base multiple times in 12 of them. Since May 1, his 141 wRC+ ranked third on the team behind only Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, and Cody Bellinger. That production is especially valuable with the lineup already missing Aaron Judge. Boone praised Grisham’s steady season before the game, noting the early bad luck had finally turned.
“He’s been great,” Boone said. “Early on, he was kind of unlucky and not getting results. Now he’s getting results. I feel like the at-bats have been consistent from Day 1.”
Why Dominguez is not a clean swap
Here is the wrinkle that complicates the obvious solution for the Yankees. As Grisham landed on the injured list, Dominguez got the call-up. But he is not a natural fit to step directly into center field.
Dominguez has spent his rehab assignment playing right field, a spot he had played just once in his professional career before this stretch. The move made sense because Bellinger, the best defensive left fielder in baseball, anchors left, and Dominguez has graded as a below-average defender there. So rather than Dominguez sliding into center, the Yankees would more likely shift rookie Spencer Jones into regular center field duties, with Dominguez in right and Bellinger in left. The replacement for Grisham, in other words, might be Jones on the grass, even if Dominguez is the one added to the roster.
A plan still up in the air
Nothing is settled yet, and the Yankees made clear the decision hinges on how Grisham feels. Dominguez had been scheduled to play another Triple-A rehab game Saturday, but those plans were thrown into dustbin the moment Grisham limped off.
Boone earlier acknowledged that the team could accelerate Dominguez’s return, while stressing that it all depends on the center fielder’s status. He left every option open.
“There’s a chance we bring him up, depending on Grish,” Boone said. “It just depends. We’ll see what we have overnight and in the morning. But Jasson could be in play.”
Dominguez has given the Yankees reason for optimism, homering in his fifth rehab game Friday while playing right field for the third game in a row. He has been working back from a left AC joint sprain that has cost him more than a month. The original plan was to reevaluate him Monday, but Grisham’s injury may force the Yankees to move faster.
A deep roster facing a new test
The broader picture shows a Yankees team being stretched thin. The injuries have piled up, with Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells, Max Fried, and Dominguez all having spent time on the injured list, and Grisham potentially next.
Despite all of it, the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays are the only two American League teams with at least 40 wins, a testament to the depth Boone keeps pointing to. The manager framed the latest blow as just another challenge for a roster built to absorb them. He sees opportunity in the setback.
“It’s part of it,” Boone said. “I feel like it’s one of the deeper rosters we’ve had in a while. So we got capable people of going in there and picking up any slack left.”
But do not be surprised if it is Jones, not Dominguez, patrolling center field in Toronto. The Yankees have spent all season solving these puzzles, and this is simply the latest one.
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