The Martian may end up being more like the 4-A player.
Despite a red-hot spring where he has slugged .632 with three home runs, Jasson Dominguez was projected to start the 2026 MLB season for the New York Yankees‘ Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes Barre by beat writer Chris Kirschner.
Dominguez, 23, of course has been dubbed “The Martian” for his out-of-this-world ability and has a 1.013 OPS in spring training. The switch hitter is coming off a solid rookie campaign where he posted a .713 OPS and 10 homers in 423 regular-season plate appearances.
Jasson Dominguez Projected to Start the Season in Triple-A
For all the bellyaching fans have made about “running back” the 2025 roster, Dominguez being anywhere but on the third-base line when New York’s roster is announced for its season opener against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday would be a major shift.
Yet, Kirschner made the Yankees’ season-opening roster seem like a foregone conclusion, at least as far as position players go, and the speedy 5-9, 218-pound outfielder isn’t going to make the cut behind outfielders Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Randal Grichuk and DH Giancarlo Stanton.
“Randal Grichuk, a non-roster spring training invitee, is expected to be the right-handed-hitting outfielder off the bench,” Kirschner wrote. “When the Yankees face a left-handed starter, expect Cody Bellinger in center field and Grichuk in left field.
“That would leave Jasson DomÃnguez off the Opening Day roster and bound for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.”
Some might wonder whether Dominguez could fill the Grichuk role, since Grichuk had a minus-0.8 bWAR after slashing .228/.278/.401 for the Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025.
But Grichuk mashes against lefties (.430 slugging% in 2025, .819 OPS vs LHP for his career), and Dominguez slashed .186/.276/.254 against left-handed pitching last year.
The Yankees Will Still Need Jasson Dominguez in 2026
Dominguez’s name has come up in trade rumors, though the Yankees would be foolish to part with the still-young outfielder at this point in his career.
But the season is long, and the Yankees are rife with veterans. Of the above-listed outfielders, only Grisham is not in his 30s, and he will turn 30 in November.
That means Dominguez should end up in the majors before long.
“Itâs still expected DomÃnguez will have an impact on the 2026 roster because of the likelihood of injury,” Kirschner wrote. “If the 23-year-old isnât needed at any point this year, it likely means the Yankees are having a hell of a season because Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton each stayed healthy.”
Stanton only played 77 games in 2025, due his still-prescient elbow tendinitis, and Bellinger, Grisham, Judge and Dominguez all played at least 120 games in the majors.
There will be at-bats to go around, especially if Dominguez can keep hitting the way he has in Florida this exhibition season. Dominguez’s 24 total bases in spring training not only lead the Yankees but are tied for fifth-most among Grapefruit League participants.
Dominguez’s lack of a true outfield position may be an issue, but he will get the first call even ahead of power-hitting centerfielder Spencer Jones, who is also knocking on the major-league door.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Former Yankees Top Prospect Gets Bad News in Latest Roster Prediction appeared first on Heavy Sports.