When Jasson Domínguez and Giancarlo Stanton began to take major steps towards their return to the starting lineup this week, people began to wonder how the Yankees were going to solve the roster crunch. Would the struggling Anthony Volpe be returned to Triple-A, handing the shortstop back in its totality to José Caballero? Would Spencer Jones, who only made his debut because of an injury to Domínguez and returned because of an injury to Aaron Judge, make the trek back to Scranton? Maybe it would
be Max Schuemann, the utilityman who has hit well in a very small sample size this season? Perhaps the Martian himself would remain in the minors, getting everyday reps in right field, in order that Cody Bellinger could stay in left?
As Joe Torre always said, the baseball gods have a way of making these decisions for us, and in the end, the answer would be, “None of the above.”
During last night’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, Trent Grisham pulled up limping on the basepaths and had to be removed from the game. Now, he’s headed to the injured list with a right hamstring strain, swapping places with Domínguez, who is returning from the shelf.
The injury comes at a particularly inopportune time, as Grisham has been really heating up over the last couple of weeks, and the team has needed his bat in the lineup with Judge on the shelf with a stress fracture. Hopefully, Domínguez recaptures his hot start to the season and is able to make up at least some of that difference; for what it’s worth, he was 5-for-18 with two homers and two stolen bases during his five-day rehab assignment.
At the moment, it remains to be seen how the Yankees will line up their outfield in the near future. Last night, the team opted to shift Jones from right to center, rather than move Cody Bellinger, who has arguably been the best defensive left fielder in baseball this season. It’s clear to me that they want to keep Bellinger there if at all possible, as evidenced by the fact that Domínguez spent the last three days in Scranton playing right field, a position he had exactly one game of professional experience at prior to this week. Will the Yankees decide to let him learn the position on the fly, or will they put him back in left field? Only time will tell.
