CLEARWATER, Fla. — Jasson Dominguez has heard the questions about his right-handed swing all winter. On Tuesday, he answered with a baseball that landed beyond the left-field wall.
The 23-year-old switch-hitter crushed a solo home run off Phillies lefty Tanner Banks in the first inning of a 4-2 Yankees victory at BayCare Ballpark. It was not just any homer. It came from the right side of the plate, where Jasson Dominguez has been borderline helpless for most of his young career.
The swing looked different. The big leg kick from last season was gone. In its place was a shorter stride that kept Dominguez quieter and more on time against a 91 mph fastball that ran inside.
“When you’re doing bad, you’re already at the bottom,” Dominguez said. “So you’ve got to try something new and just play with it.”
The righty platoon problem that dogs Dominguez
The numbers from last season tell a rough story. Dominguez slashed .204/.279/.290 from the right side of the plate, posting a .569 OPS with just one home run in 104 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. From the left side against righties, he was a different hitter altogether, slugging nine homers with a .768 OPS.
The whole point of switch-hitting is to become your own platoon. But Dominguez’s splits were so lopsided that his right-handed at-bats became a liability rather than an advantage. By midseason, the Yankees considered him a part-time player on a roster that had no room for part-time players.
His defensive struggles in left field only compounded the problem. The Yankees saw him as a liability out there for much of the second half, and his playing time shriveled. He finished the year with a 101 OPS+, barely above league average, and the combination of poor defense and a broken righty swing cost him his starting job.
That is why Tuesday’s homer against Banks carried so much weight. It was not about one Grapefruit League at-bat. It was about whether the mechanical change Dominguez developed over the winter can hold up against quality left-handed arms.
A quieter swing, a louder statement
Dominguez worked on the shortened stride throughout the offseason. He is a natural right-handed hitter who never logged heavy reps from that side in the minors, which partly explains the gap between his two swings.
Aaron Boone said the adjustment makes sense given what the Yankees see in Dominguez from the right side.
“That’s why I see the potential there,” Boone said. “I think it’s an experience thing. He still controls the zone from that side. It’s just continuing to get reps.”
Boone pointed to hard-hit balls that went for outs this spring as evidence that the contact quality is improving even when the results have not always shown it. Overall, Dominguez is 10-for-30 (.333) with two homers, two doubles, two steals and a .944 OPS this spring.
“He’s still a better left-handed hitter, but there’s no reason to think that, over time, the right side can’t come up,” Boone said. “He’s got power to that side. He’s got plate discipline. It’s just a matter of continuing to gain experience.”
Defense shows real growth after rough 2025
The bat is only part of the equation. The Yankees also needed to see progress in the outfield, and they are getting it.
Last Thursday against the Twins, Dominguez threw to the wrong base twice. Boone called the day “rough.” But he bounced back with strong defensive performances over the weekend against Washington and the Mets. In Sunday’s game at Port St. Lucie, Dominguez made two running catches and fired an accurate throw home to nail Vidal Brujan at the plate.
“Coming off a game where he made some wrong throws, that’s what was good to see,” Boone said. “The good thing is he’s played a lot, he’s worked a lot, he’s getting better.”
One rival AL scout described what he has seen this spring as “definite improvement” in the field from Dominguez. That matters because the Yankees need him to be more than a bat if he is going to claim a big league role.
The path back to the Bronx runs through Scranton
Dominguez knew his fate before camp opened. General manager Brian Cashman said multiple times over the winter that everyday reps were in the outfielder’s best interest. With Bellinger, Grisham and Judge locked into the starting outfield, there was no room.
“That’s one thing that I can’t control,” Dominguez said in mid-February. “I don’t make the decisions. I do my best to get the best results I can get, and that’s what I’m focusing on right now.”
He is handling the situation exactly how the Yankees hoped. The bat has been consistent. The defense is trending up. And now the righty swing has produced a moment that gives Yankees coaches reason to believe it can become a real weapon.
Dominguez will almost certainly start the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. But Trent Grisham is on a one-year deal. Giancarlo Stanton has two years left. The Yankees outfield picture will shift eventually. When it does, Dominguez wants to be ready. Tuesday’s homer against Tanner Banks was one swing. But for the Yankees, it was the right one.
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