ARLINGTON, Texas — Wednesday morning, Jasson Dominguez had every reason to feel good about where he stood. He was in the starting lineup. He had a clear runway for regular at-bats. The Yankees had just DFA’d Randal Grichuk specifically to make room for him to stay.
By Wednesday evening, he was standing at his locker waiting to find out if his elbow was broken.
An 89.1 mph cutter from Nathan Eovaldi caught Dominguez flush on the inside of his left elbow in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers. He stayed in long enough to run the bases. Then he was pulled from left field at the end of the inning and did not return.
X-rays taken at Globe Life Field were inconclusive. The Yankees scheduled an MRI for Thursday in New York during the team’s off day. The organization listed the injury as a left elbow contusion, but the need for further imaging told a more uncertain story.
The moment of impact
Dominguez came to the plate in the fourth inning with the Yankees already trailing. Eovaldi had been dominant all afternoon. The count ran full. Then came a cutter, clocked at 89.1 mph, that rode into the inside corner and caught Dominguez directly on the left elbow.
He doubled over immediately. Manager Aaron Boone and head trainer Tim Lentych came out to check on him. Boone said afterward that Lentych’s initial reaction on the field gave him some hope, but not certainty.
“When Tim went out there he felt like a bump, a bruise,” Boone said. “When it hit him, he thought there might be a fracture. Hopefully it’s just a bruise.”
Dominguez described the immediate sensation in detail when reporters gathered at his locker after the game. The pain came fast, then changed.
“Right when it hit me, I felt it good,” Dominguez said. “My arm went numb a little bit, but then it just was just swollen.”
He walked off under his own power after his plate appearance. He ran the bases on the play. But by the time the Yankees took the field in the bottom of the fourth, Dominguez was done for the day.
X-rays inconclusive, MRI scheduled
The Yankees arranged for X-rays to be taken inside Globe Life Field before the team boarded a flight home. The results did not provide a clear answer either way.
Dominguez acknowledged the uncertainty but kept his composure when describing where things stood.
“Right now I don’t feel any concern,” Dominguez said. “I’ve got to wait until tomorrow and see.”
Boone echoed that measured tone after the game but was careful not to rule anything out. The Yankees have been managing multiple injury situations simultaneously, with Giancarlo Stanton already on the 10-day injured list with a low-grade right calf strain.
“You hate seeing that,” Boone said. “Hopefully the tests reveal not much and it’s just bruising and we’ll work through it, but unknown at this point.”
The timing and the roster stakes
Dominguez was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday, just two days before the injury. His promotion came directly because of Stanton’s calf strain, which opened the DH spot. The Yankees DFA’d Grichuk on Wednesday morning specifically to give Dominguez a clearer path to regular at-bats.
The 23-year-old had been having a strong Triple-A season before the call-up. He hit .326 with an .893 OPS, three home runs, 15 RBI and eight stolen bases for the RailRiders in 2026. He had also shown improvement from the right side of the plate, posting a 1.172 OPS as a right-handed batter at Triple-A. In the three games he played in Arlington, he went 1-for-9, but Dominguez noted the results did not reflect the quality of contact he made.
If the MRI reveals a fracture or ligament damage, the Yankees would face a significant setback with both Stanton and Dominguez sidelined at the same time. Their DH options would be reduced to a patchwork rotation of infielders and bench players until one of them returns.
Dominguez received praise from the Yankees organization for the way he handled starting the 2026 season in the minors without complaint, despite having spent all of last season in the big leagues. He showed the same composure Wednesday night.
“This is baseball,” Dominguez said. “It is what it is.”
The MRI results for Dominguez are expected Thursday. If they show only bruising, he could be available for the Orioles series. If they show structural damage, the Yankees would face another immediate roster decision on top of an already complicated injury situation.
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